Prime Minister

House of Lords: Reform

Justin Madders: To ask the Prime Minister, what his policy is on reform of the House of Lords.

Mr David Cameron: We have already supported changes allowing for the expulsion of members for poor conduct and will work to ensure the House of Lords continues to function well by looking, with others, at issues such as the size of the chamber and the retirement of peers.

Counter-terrorism

Tom Watson: To ask the Prime Minister, whether the Government has carried out a cross-departmental assessment of the strategic implications of the targeted killing of British citizens outside declared war zones.

Tom Watson: To ask the Prime Minister, what assessment he has made of whether the Caroline principles on the right to self-defence under Article 51 of the UN Charter have been strictly applied by the UK Government.

Tom Watson: To ask the Prime Minister, what definitions the Government adopts of (a) self-defence and (b) imminence in authorising the Khan drones strike; and what assessment the Government has made of the difference between such definitions and those formulated by the US administration.

Mr David Cameron: As I said during my oral statement on Syria: Refugees and Counter-Terrorism on 7 September 2015, Official Report, column 23, these individuals presented a clear and present danger to the country and this action was taken because there was no alternative. The Attorney General was consulted and was clear there was a legal basis for this action in international law. Our Permanent Representative has informed the President of the United Nations Security Council of this activity, which was conducted in the self-defence of the UK.

Libya and Syria: Military Intervention

Tom Watson: To ask the Prime Minister, if he will ensure that there is a debate in the House before further UK military intervention is taken in (a) Syria and (b) Libya.

Mr David Cameron: I refer the hon. Member to my oral statement on Syria: Refugees and Counter-Terrorism on 7 September 2015, Official Report, column 23.

Department for Work and Pensions

Department for Work and Pensions: Archives

Jenny Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will publish his Department's (a) assessment of performance, (b) efficiency opportunities (c) savings market conditions, and (d) security risk management as a result of the most recent strategic management review with Capita on the Document Management and Associated Services (document storage) contract currently held by Capita Filestores in Darlington.

Justin Tomlinson: There is a structured performance management framework incorporated into the document storage contract held with the contractor, which includes monitoring of performance, continuous improvement, market sector comparison, identification of efficiency opportunities and management of security and risk in line with both parties’ contractual obligations. However, the contract re-procurement process has commenced and the Invitation to Tender documentation issued to the market place. Publication of the latest strategic review output specifically relating to the contractor’s performance on the contract during a competitive process where competing suppliers would have access to this information would potentially put the contractor as the incumbent supplier at a commercial disadvantage. Therefore, this information is deemed commercially sensitive and will not be released.

Personal Independence Payment

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to his Answer of 7 July 2015 to Question 4556, for what reason no financial assessment of the saving or cost to the Exchequer from the transfer of existing disability living allowance claimants to personal independence payments has been made.

Justin Tomlinson: An assessment of the financial impact of introducing Personal Independence Payment (PIP) was published in the 2010 budget and subsequent fiscal events have updated the forecast spending on disability benefits. Additionally, there is an available impact assessment (published May 2012) examining the expenditure effects of introducing PIP for new adult claims and migrating existing adult DLA claimants, who satisfy the criteria for reassessment, to PIP, at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/220176/dla-reform-wr2011-ia.pdf To carry out new analysis would require substantial work which could only be carried out at disproportionate cost.

New Businesses

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many start-ups initiated by benefits claimants on the Work For Yourself programme were sustained beyond (a) six and (b) 12 months.

Priti Patel: The information requested is not available.

Occupational Pensions: Private Sector

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effect of auto-enrolment on private sector pension saving.

Justin Tomlinson: Over 5.43 million workers have now been automatically enrolled into a workplace pension by their employer, many for the first time. This has reversed the downwards trend seen in workplace pension participation rates since 2003. So far opt out has been around 10 per cent, which is significantly lower than the original DWP estimate of around 30 per cent. This has seen the programme opt out assumption being adjusted to 15 per cent overall for the lifetime of the programme.  Automatic Enrolment will give around 10 million people the opportunity to save into a workplace pension - we expect to see 8 to 9 million people newly saving or saving more, generating £11 billion a year more in workplace pension saving by 2020.

Housing Benefit: Young People

Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 21 July 2015 to Question 7882, what steps his Department plans to take to identify and support vulnerable young people who are in need of support for their housing.

Justin Tomlinson: This Government is determined to end long term youth unemployment, and support all young people into work. In order to prevent young people slipping straight into a life on benefits, from April 2017 we will remove automatic entitlement to housing support for new claims in Universal Credit from 18-21 year olds who are out of work. This measure ensures young people in the benefits system face the same choices as young people who work and who may not be able to afford to leave home. However, we will ensure that vulnerable young people who are in need of support for their housing needs continue to receive it. Government will consider the impact in line with our legal obligations as part of that process. We have invited key stakeholders to engage with the Department on this policy and discuss the exemptions for vulnerable young people.

Housing Benefit: Lone Parents

Lucy Allan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will ensure that parents who share custody of a child are exempted from the under-occupancy penalty.

Justin Tomlinson: With 1.7 million households on the social housing waiting list in England alone, 250,000 households living in overcrowded conditions, and around 820,000 spare bedrooms being paid for within the social sector it was important that something be done to address this and the housing benefit bill that was spiralling out of control. The removal of spare room subsidy was introduced in April 2013 for these reasons as well as to strengthen work incentives; encourage both mobility within the social sector and the better use of available social housing by social landlords. More importantly, this measure was required to bring about parity of treatment between private and social rented sectors tenants because it is only fair that housing benefit claimants living in the social sector should make the same considerations as private sector tenants about the affordability of their rent rather than relying upon the taxpayer to meet the costs of housing that may be too large for their needs. Providing blanket exemptions to the policy were not considered to be the most effective or affordable approach to targeting resources for those who are vulnerable. Nor was it considered right that the taxpayer should provide bedrooms in separate households for the same child where parents are separated especially as this could act as a disincentive to work. To mitigate the impact for those facing difficult situations money was added to the Discretionary Housing Payment scheme. For instance this financial year £60 million has been added specifically for this measure. This however forms only part of the overall funding of £125 million for 2015/16, and since April 2013, £470 million has been provided in DHP funding. This is a proportionate approach which is effective and provides local authorities, who administer Housing Benefit, with the right level of flexibility to ensure that those who are vulnerable receive the help they need, an approach that has also been upheld by the Courts.

Department for Work and Pensions: Scotland

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, which properties are occupied by his Department in Scotland for the purposes of face-to-face contact with customers and claimants; whether each such property is (a) rented, (b) owned by the Government and (c) occupied on other terms; and what plans the Department has to ensure continuity of service in areas served by such properties with a remaining tenure of less than three calendar years.

Justin Tomlinson: The Department for Work and Pensions occupies the majority of its estate under a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) known as the PRIME Contract. Under this PFI, the Department leases fully serviced accommodation from its private sector partner Telereal Trillium. The Department pays an inclusive unitary price for the space occupied. The Department does not own any of the buildings that it occupies. Telereal Trillium must under the PRIME contract provide security of tenure until contract expiry in 31/3/2018. In the event the lease term expires before this and Telereal Trillium are unable to obtain an extension to the lease they are required to deliver suitable alternative accommodation to the Department. The Department has put in place a project to oversee and assure the work to prepare for the end of the Prime contract and to ensure that there is continuity of estate to support the ongoing delivery of business from April 2018 onwards. In Scotland, the Department delivers customer-facing services from 96 locations of which 91 are occupied under the PRIME contract, 4 sites are shared with other Government Departments under a Memorandum Of Occupancy Agreement and 1 is co-located with a Local Authority under licence. A list of these sites is provided below. In addition, our services are also delivered from over 50 flexible service delivery locations shared with other partner organisations – Local Authorities, HM Prisons, Retailers etc. - in their sites under licence. Aberdeen Ebury House 12-14 Dee StreetAirdrie 44 Stirling StreetAlexandria 160 Bank StreetAlloa 17 Mar StreetAnnan Murray StreetArbroath 2 Chalmers StreetAyr Russell House King street (MSEC)Ayr Wallacetoun House John StreetBanff 23-25 Castle StreetBathgate 31-33 Whitburn RoadBellshill 417 Main StreetBlairgowrie 11-13 Perth StreetBroxburn 97 East Main StreetBuckie Shanks LaneCampbeltown 40 Hall StreetCowdenbeath 6 Pit RoadCumbernauld 3 South Muirhead RoadCumnock 33-43 Townhead StreetCupar 7 WestportDalkeith 7-15 Buccleuch StreetDingwall 3 High StreetDumbarton 15 Meadowbank StreetDumfries 67-75 Irish StreetDundee Caledonian House GreenmarketDundee Wellgate House Wellgate CentreDunfermline Merchiston House Foundry StreetDunoon James McClure House George StreetEast Kilbride 55 The Plaza Town CentreEdinburgh 11-13 South St Andrew StreetEdinburgh 20 High RiggsEdinburgh Lyndean House 199 Commercial Street LeithEdinburgh Murrayburn House 1 Wester Hailes Centre (2nd Floor)Elgin 13-21 Trinity RoadEyemouth Upper HoundlawFalkirk Heron House 10b Wellside PlaceForfar Service RoadForres Tytler StreetFort William Waverley House High StreetFraserburgh 2-4 South Harbour RoadGalashiels New Reiver House High StreetGirvan Carrick Buildings, Henrietta StreetGlasgow 1460-1470 Maryhill Road MaryhillGlasgow 152-158 Battlefield Road LangsideGlasgow 20 Benalder Street PartickGlasgow 20 Paisley Road BarrheadGlasgow 200 Atlas Road SpringburnGlasgow 21 Herschell Street AnnieslandGlasgow 3 Macdonald Street RutherglenGlasgow 67-69 Kinfauns Drive DrumchapelGlasgow 779-787 Govan Road GovanGlasgow 8 Coustonholm Road NewlandsGlasgow 9 Muslin Street BridgetonGlasgow 955 Shettleston Road ShettlestonGlasgow Corunna House 29 Cadogan Street (MSEC)Glasgow Laurieston House 159-181 Pollokshaws Road LauriestonGlasgow Lower Ground Floor Suite Civic Buildings CambuslangGlasgow Shandwick Street EasterhouseGlasgow The Forge 1181 Duke Street ParkheadGlasgow Unit No 1 & 2 Castlemilk Arcade Dougrie Drive CastlemilkGlenrothes 3 PostgateGrangemouth 13-15 Charlotte Dundas CourtGreenock 99 Dalrymple StreetHamilton Cameronian House Almada StreetHawick 5-9 North Bridge StreetHelensburgh 5-7 Charlotte StreetInvergordon 43 High StreetInverness River House Young StreetIrvine 121-125 High StreetJohnstone 11 Floors StreetKilbirnie Walker StreetKilmarnock 12 Woodstock StreetKirkcaldy 5 Hunter StreetKirkintilloch Queen StreetLanark Atholl House 55-57 Bannatyne StreetLeven 9 Waggon RoadLivingston Unit 15 And 16B Regional Centre Almondvale SouthMontrose Castlestead House 4 Castle PlaceMotherwell Flemington House 600 Windmillhill StreetMusselburgh North House Eskmills Park Station RoadOban Mathieson House 1 Miller RoadOrkney Tankerness Lane KirkwallPaisley 47-51 High StreetPenicuik 25-29 John StreetPerth 60-62 High StreetPeterhead 63 St Peter StreetPort Glasgow 6 Scarlow StreetPortree Bayfield RoadRenfrew 5 High StreetRothesay Crown Building 9 King Street Isle of ButeSaltcoats 13 Dockhead StreetShetland Charlotte House Commercial Road LerwickSt Andrews 187 South StreetStirling South Lodge 2 St Ninians Road (MSEC)Stornoway 12-15 Francis Street Isle of LewisStranraer 10-12 St John StreetWick Government Buildings Girnigoe Street

Funeral Payments

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the budget for the Social Fund Funeral Payment scheme has been in each of the last five years.

Justin Tomlinson: Social Fund Funeral Expenses Payments are made to all applicants who satisfy the eligibility criteria. Expenditure in the last five years was as follows: YearExpenditure2014/15£44.2m2013/14£44.7m2012/13£43.1m2011/12£46.7m2010/11£46.5mSource: DWP Policy, Budget and Management Information System

Clinical Trials: Vacancies

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions he has had with (a) Covance and (b) other advertisers of clinical trials through Jobcentre Plus on the safeguarding and informed decisions aspects of such trials; and whether representatives of social services have been present.

Priti Patel: The Secretary of State has had no official meetings with Covance or any other advertisers of clinical trials through Jobcentre Plus.

Jobseeker's Allowance

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the number of people who are eligible for jobseeker's allowance but who choose not to claim it.

Priti Patel: The Department for Work and Pensions has not made any estimates of the number of people who are eligible for Jobseeker’s Allowance, but who choose not to claim it.

Department for Work and Pensions: Consultants

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what policy evaluations have been carried out by external organisations for his Department and its agencies in each financial year since 2010-11; whether the output of those evaluations was published; which organisation carried out each such evaluation; and what the value of each contract to provide that evaluation was.

Priti Patel: Policy evaluations, as with all externally commissioned DWP research, are routinely published: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-work-pensions/about/research  Reports always identify the organisations that have been contracted to do the research. Details of all government contracts let since February 2011 are in the public domain, including the contract value:https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder

Children: Poverty

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the effect on (a) relative and (b) absolute child poverty of the four-year freeze announced in the July Budget on the uprating of (i) jobseeker's allowance and (ii) employment and support allowance.

Priti Patel: The Government has carefully considered all measures introduced in the Summer Budget. This Government is committed to reducing child poverty, and ensuring everyone has the opportunity to get on in life. As part of this we are introducing new life chances measures to drive action on addressing the root causes of disadvantage.

Department for Work and Pensions: UK Membership of EU

Mr David Nuttall: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, which external organisations he has met to discuss the consequences of the UK leaving the EU in each of the last three years; and how many times he has met each such organisation.

Priti Patel: The Government is focused on delivering a successful renegotiation: it believes it can and will succeed in reforming and renegotiating our relationship with the EU and campaigning to keep the UK in the EU on that basis. The Secretary of State regularly meets with a range of external organisations to discuss the Government's objectives in Europe. Details of Ministerial meetings with external organisations are published quarterly on Gov.UK. https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/387937/ministers-meetings-apr-jun-2014.pdf

Department for Work and Pensions: UK Membership of EU

Mr David Nuttall: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, which external organisations officials in his Department have met to discuss the consequences of the UK leaving the EU in each of the last three years; and how many meetings such officials have had with each such organisation.

Priti Patel: The Government is focused on delivering a successful renegotiation: it believes it can and will succeed in reforming and renegotiating our relationship with the EU and campaigning to keep the UK in the EU on that basis. Officials regularly meet with a range of external organisations to discuss the Government's objectives in Europe.

Department for Work and Pensions: UK Membership of EU

Mr David Nuttall: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many officials in his Department are engaged in research into the effects of the UK leaving the EU.

Priti Patel: The Government is focused on delivering a successful renegotiation: it believes it can and will succeed in reforming and renegotiating our relationship with the EU and campaigning to keep the UK in the EU on that basis. Departments are appropriately resourced to support the Government’s priorities in Europe.

Social Security Benefits: Disability

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what representations he has received from the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on an investigation into welfare reforms since May 2010.

Justin Tomlinson: The Rules of Procedure of the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities provide that all documents and proceedings of the Committee relating to the conduct of an inquiry under the Optional Protocol are confidential. However, as the existence of an inquiry has already been made public by others, I can confirm that the Government has received representations from the Committee in connection with that. The nature, scope and timetable for the inquiry remain confidential.

Universal Credit: Highlands of Scotland

Drew Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions his Department has had with the Highland Council on assessment of the roll-out of universal credit.

Priti Patel: Regular discussions have taken place between DWP and Highland Council who have been delivering Universal Credit (UC) since November 2013.

Personal Independence Payment

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to his Answer of 9 September 2015 to Question 8714, for what reason the contract to provide PIP assessments stipulates that Capita is not permitted to provide recording equipment for use during assessments; and which Minister in his Department signed off this decision.

Justin Tomlinson: Capita’s contract does not contain any stipulation that Capita is not permitted to provide recording equipment for use during assessments.

Disability Living Allowance

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many working age disability living allowance recipients notified his Department of a change of circumstance and sought a reassessment under special rules for people with terminal illness in each year from 2005 to 2010.

Justin Tomlinson: The information requested is not collated and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Disability Living Allowance

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many working age people applied for and received disability living allowance, claiming under special rules for people with terminal illness, in each year from 2005 to 2010.

Justin Tomlinson: The data requested is available through the Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study (WPLS) data tabulation tool, which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dwp-statistics-tabulation-tool

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he expects the transition to universal credit to be complete.

Priti Patel: As previously announced, by the end of 2018 claimants will no longer be able to make a claim to legacy benefits and tax credits.

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many universal credit claims include an element for housing costs.

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claimants are in receipt of universal credit; and of those claims how many have alternative payment arrangements in place.

Priti Patel: The information requested is not available.

Housing Benefit: Young People

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he plans to exempt 18 to 21 year olds in supported accommodation who meet the specified accommodation definition under the Housing Benefit and Universal Credit (Supported Accommodation) (Amendment) Regulations 2014 from the withdrawal of housing support for this age group.

Justin Tomlinson: This Government is determined to end youth unemployment, and support all young people into work. In order to prevent young people slipping straight into a life on benefits, from April 2017 we will remove automatic entitlement to housing support for new claims in Universal Credit from 18-21 year olds who are out of work. This measure ensures young people in the benefits system face the same choices as young people who work and who may not be able to afford to leave home. However, we will ensure that vulnerable young people who are in need of support for their housing needs continue to receive it.  People living in specified accommodation claiming Universal Credit do not receive the housing element, and instead receive support for their housing costs though Housing Benefit. The Government has no plans to change 18-21 year olds entitlement to Housing Benefit, so claimants in specified accommodation will continue to be supported with their housing costs and will be unaffected by this policy.

Home Office

Nurses: Migrant Workers

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Tier 2 visa applications made in 2015 were from nurses outside the EU; and how many such visas have been granted.

James Brokenshire: Acquiring this information would involve examining each individual case record held by UKVI for the category. To do so would incur a disproportionate cost.

Asylum

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum seekers have been refused the right to leave the UK since 2010.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office does not refuse asylum seekers the right to leave the UK.

Refugees: EU Countries

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to make any new funds available to help with the care of refugees arriving in Europe.

James Brokenshire: The Government has no plans to provide funds to other EU Member States to care for migrants or refugees arriving in other parts of Europe. We will, however, continue to provide practical support coordinated by the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) in the form of expertise to help build capacity in States facing particular pressures.HM Government has already committed £900 million in humanitarian aid to the humanitarian crisis in Syria and the region. A further £100 million announced in the past few days, brings our commitment to £1bn, more than any other country in the world except the United States.In addition, the Chancellor has announced a fundamental review of how the aid budget is used . The current Syrian resettlement scheme is funded through a mixture of Official Development Assistance and EU funds: we are using the aid budget to help some of the most vulnerable people in the world and to relieve the pressure on local communities.

Radicalism and Terrorism: Databases

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether a database of flags and symbols of terrorist, radical and extreme groups is maintained by her Department or by the police.

Mr John Hayes: The Home Office does not hold or maintain a database of flags and symbols of terrorist, radical and extreme groups. The Home Office does hold and maintain a list of proscribed organisations which is held on the GOV.UK website. I cannot comment on information held by the police as this is an operational matter.

Asylum: Deportation

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum seekers have been removed to a third country under the terms of the Dublin Convention in each month of 2014 and 2015 to date; and if she will make a statement.

James Brokenshire: The information requested is shown in the following table:Jan-14Feb-14Mar-14Apr-14May-14Jun-14Jul-14Aug-14Sep-14Oct-14Nov-14Dec-14Jan-15Feb-15Mar-15Apr-15May-15Jun-15Total8867805757555141717464404967715936711098These figures are based on management information and are only valid for the date of the report (8/09/2015). This information has not been quality assured under National Statistics protocols.

Travel: Syria

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to stop the internet being used to attract Muslims to travel to Syria.

Mr John Hayes: Extremist and terrorist organisations such as ISIL are using the internet to disseminate propaganda and recruit individuals to their groups or to support their aims. We are therefore working with responsible social media companies to take robust action against terrorist material. Since 2010, over 100,000 pieces of terrorist-related material have been removed at the request of the dedicated Counter-Terrorism Internet Referral Unit. We are pressing social media companies to take stronger, faster and further action to combat the use of their services by terrorist and extremist groups. We want to see a zero tolerance approach to terrorist activity on their networks. We are also working in partnership with organisations prepared to confront the extremist proposition on the internet, increasing their confidence to challenge extremist content effectively and to provide credible alternatives.

Disability: Crime Prevention

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to reduce the number of disability hate crimes.

Karen Bradley: The Government takes all forms of hate crime very seriously. Crime that is motivated by hostility or hatred towards the victim is particularly corrosive and can have devastating consequences for victims and their families. In 2012, the previous Government published a hate crime action plan and a total of 13 actions were dedicated to the prevention of disability hate crime, including the creation of a new cross government Disability Strategy, the publication of the Crown Prosecution Service Action Plan on disability hate crime and publishing examples of good practice by disabled persons’ user-led organisations. The progress report on the action plan, published in 2014, showed that we had either completed or made good progress on all actions.The number of police-recorded hate crimes against disabled people has increased each year since records began in 2011. There were 1,753 reports in 2011/2012, 1,843 in 2012/2013 and 1,985 in 2013/2014. This could indicate that there is an increased understanding of disability hate crime by police and victims.The Government is currently speaking to a number of organisations and individuals to inform the next steps in our strategy to tackle disability hate crime. This includes work with the Fulfilling Potential Forum, which is led by the Office for Disability Issues within DWP and is made up of around 40 disability charities, including disabled people’s user led organisations.

Visas: Sponsorship

Kirsty Blackman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many employers have (a) applied for and (b) been refused UK Visa and Immigration sponsorship status in each of the last 10 six month periods.

James Brokenshire: The table below shows the number of applications made by employers for a sponsor licence, and the number of applications that were refused, in each of the last 10 six month periods.Table 1 2010Jan-JunJul-Dec 2011Jan-JunJul-DecApplied-6129 Applied52214377Refused-367 Refused559630   2012Jan-JunJul-Dec 2013Jan-JunJul-DecApplied38613855 Applied42364448Refused563405 Refused412522   2014Jan-JunJul-Dec 2015Jan-JunJul-DecApplied42734002 Applied3691-Refused724994 Refused800-Note 1: The number of applications received includes all applications for a sponsor licence under the Tiers and sub-categories that permit employment.Note 2: Not all applications refused in a given six month period were received in the same six month period.Note 3: An application for multiple Tiers and/or categories may be partially granted; therefore refusals also includes those application where a licence may have been granted under one Tier, but refused under a different Tier.

Asylum: Children

Kirsty Blackman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people granted temporary asylum as children have been denied permanent asylum upon applying as an adult by country of origin in each of the last 10 years.

Kirsty Blackman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people granted temporary asylum as children, having arrived in the UK under the age of 12, have been denied permanent asylum upon applying as an adult in each of the last 10 years.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office does not return Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children (UASC) whose claims have been refused, unless adequate reception arrangements are in place in the country to which the child is to be returned. If adequate reception arrangements are absent, most unaccompanied children are granted temporary leave to remain (UASC Leave) which usually continues until their 18th birthday. When a child passes the age of 18 and their UASC Leave expires, they are no longer considered to be an unaccompanied asylum seeking child and are therefore required to take steps to return voluntarily or seek further leave to remain. If the individual does not seek to regularise their stay through further applications or leave is not granted they may be removed should they fail to leave voluntarily. The table below provides the number of people granted UASC Leave as children and who have been denied permanent asylum upon applying as an adult by country of origin in each of the last 10 years: Year of Further Leave Application 2006200620072008200920102011201220132014 AfghanistanLess than 5135620644550238528115078 Albania00Less than 57261829499254 Algeria0Less than 5Less than 5777814Less than 55 Angola0Less than 505Less than 5Less than 50Less than 5Less than 50 Bangladesh00Less than 51525211913185 Brazil00000000Less than 50 Burundi0Less than 50Less than 50Less than 5Less than 5000 Cameroon0Less than 50Less than 50Less than 50Less than 5Less than 50 Chad00000Less than 50000 China0Less than 5102021195Less than 5Less than 50 Congo0000Less than 50Less than 5000 Cote D'Ivoire (Ivory Coast)0Less than 5Less than 5Less than 5Less than 50Less than 500Less than 5 Democratic People's Republic of Korea000Less than 500Less than 5Less than 500 Democratic Republic of the Congo0Less than 5Less than 5776Less than 5Less than 5Less than 50 Egypt00000Less than 5Less than 50Less than 5Less than 5 Eritrea00Less than 510128Less than 5Less than 5Less than 5Less than 5 EthiopiaLess than 500Less than 5Less than 5Less than 50Less than 5Less than 50 GambiaLess than 50000Less than 50Less than 500 Georgia00000Less than 50000 Ghana00000Less than 5Less than 50Less than 50 Guinea00Less than 5Less than 55Less than 5Less than 5Less than 50Less than 5 Guinea Bissau000Less than 5000000 India000Less than 5Less than 57Less than 59Less than 5Less than 5 Iran (Islamic Republic of)Less than 571167978466523012 IraqLess than 5Less than 587513391341255 Jamaica000Less than 50000Less than 50 Jordan000000000Less than 5 Kenya000Less than 5Less than 500000 Kosovo0Less than 5Less than 55Less than 5Less than 5Less than 5Less than 500 Kuwait00Less than 500Less than 5Less than 5Less than 5Less than 50 Kuwait Bidoun000000000Less than 5 Liberia000Less than 500Less than 5000 Libya0000000Less than 5Less than 50 Macedonia (Former Yugoslav Republic of)000000Less than 500Less than 5 Mauritius000000000Less than 5 Moldova, Republic of0Less than 50Less than 50Less than 50000 Mongolia0Less than 500Less than 5Less than 500Less than 50 Morocco0Less than 50006Less than 5895 Nationality Currently Unknown000Less than 5000000 Niger000000000Less than 5 Nigeria0Less than 5Less than 575Less than 57Less than 5Less than 5Less than 5 Pakistan0Less than 5Less than 51121281010Less than 5Less than 5 Palestinian Authority00Less than 5Less than 5127117Less than 50 Republic of Serbia000Less than 5000000 Russian Federation00000Less than 50000 Sierra Leone000Less than 5Less than 5Less than 50Less than 50Less than 5 Somalia0Less than 5Less than 5Less than 5Less than 56Less than 5Less than 5Less than 5Less than 5 South Africa00000Less than 50000 Sri Lanka0Less than 5Less than 5Less than 5101210811Less than 5 Stateless Person (Article 1 of 1954 Convention)0000Less than 5Less than 50000 Sudan0Less than 5Less than 5Less than 500000Less than 5 Syria Arab Republic000Less than 5Less than 5500Less than 50 Togo0000Less than 500000 Tunisia000000Less than 5000 Turkey0Less than 50Less than 565Less than 565Less than 5 Uganda00000000Less than 50 United Rep of Tanzania00000Less than 5Less than 5Less than 500 Unspecified Nationality0000Less than 500000 Vietnam0005Less than 55129148 Western Sahara00000Less than 50Less than 500 Yemen0000Less than 500000 Zimbabwe0000Less than 5Less than 5000Less than 5 Grand Total650114483870871631505374204  The table below provides the number of people granted UASC Leave as children, having arrived in the UK under the age of 12, and who have been denied permanent asylum upon applying as an adult in each of the last 10 years: Year of Further Leave Application 2005200620072008200920102011201220132014 Afghanistan00000Less than 5Less than 50Less than 5Less than 5 Bangladesh00000Less than 50Less than 5Less than 50 Eritrea0000Less than 500000 Sri Lanka000000000Less than 5 Zimbabwe000000000Less than 5 Grand Total0000Less than 5Less than 5Less than 5Less than 55Less than 5  The Home Office statistics on asylum applications and initial decisions for UASC are published quarterly in ‘Immigration Statistics, April to June 2015: data tables’, available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office website: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-statistics-april-to-june-2015-data-tables.

Greater Manchester Police: Finance

Simon Danczuk: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential effect on funding for Greater Manchester Police of the replacement of the Police Allocation Formula.

Simon Danczuk: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of which Police Force in England and Wales will experience the highest percentage change in its funding as a result of the proposed replacement of the Police Allocation Formula.

Simon Danczuk: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the statement of 21 July 2015 on Police Funding: England and Wales, HCWS 164, what the effect on Greater Manchester Police will be of following the replacement of the Police Allocation Formula.

Mike Penning: The Government is currently consulting on reform of police funding arrangements in England and Wales. The consultation seeks views on the principles of the Government’s proposed model.Final allocations for police force areas have not been set and will not be determined until we have consulted on the principles.We will publish a Government response setting out force level impacts in due course.

Female Genital Mutilation

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps her Department has taken to tackle female genital mutilation.

Karen Bradley: Female genital mutilation (FGM) is a crime. We will not tolerate a practice that can cause extreme and lifelong physical and psychological suffering to women and girls. On 22 July, the Government marked the first anniversary of the Girl Summit – the first global summit to mobilise domestic and international efforts to end FGM and child and forced marriage within a generation. All of the commitments made at the Summit have now been delivered, with Home Office commitments including:• a new mandatory reporting duty, provided for in the Serious Crime Act 2015 and due to commence in October this year, which will require specified professionals to report ‘known’ cases of FGM to the police;• the launch of the Home Office’s FGM Unit, which provides outreach support to local areas and works with the police, voluntary and community sector, survivors and professionals to develop policies and practices to end FGM;• providing resources for frontline professionals, including: a resource pack, e-learning, and distributing over 440,000 communication materials; and• the launch of a force level inspection by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary on the police response to ‘honour’ based violence, including FGM, to help ensure the enforcement is as good as it can be. Ministers signed a cross-Government declaration outlining this progress and reaffirming this Government’s commitment to tackling this appalling crime.

British Nationality

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have had their British citizenship revoked by her Department in each quarter since Q1 2010.

James Brokenshire: The number of people who have had their British citizenship revoked in each quarter since Q1 2010 is as follows:QuarterQ1Q2Q3Q4TotalsYear(Jan -Mar)(Apr - Jun)(Jul - Sep)(Oct - Dec)201001405201104116201212216201314941820148542192015*01--1 55*Information supplied in respect of 2015 is for the period January to June only.

Trials: Reoffenders

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what procedures are in place to ensure that the police make prosecutors aware of the overseas criminal convictions of (a) foreign and (b) UK citizens appearing in court for the purposes of bail and sentencing.

James Brokenshire: The Criminal Procedure Rules place the responsibility for alerting the court to any defendant’s previous convictions, both domestic and overseas, whether for the purposes of bail or for the purposes of sentencing, on the prosecutor. Courts must give consideration to that information when it is available but rely on the Police to obtain and provide it.In the last five years, the Government has made huge progress in requesting and obtaining criminal record data from other countries about foreign nationals who are arrested in the UK. Since 2010 checks on foreign nationals going through the UK criminal justice system have increased by nearly 1,500%, helping us to take more foreign criminals off our streets and making our communities safer.Work is under way to improve processes used by the police when relaying overseas convictions to prosecutors. Digitisation of these processes will enable officers to flag up whether a check has been completed and whether detained persons have any overseas convictions. To assist the courts, the Government will shortly be providing guidance to Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Service on obtaining and using overseas conviction data in criminal proceedings.The ACRO Criminal Records Office has also been looking to improve access to the overseas convictions of UK nationals convicted abroad and, where appropriate, this information is placed onto the Police National Computer so that it is available in the event that the subject appears before the courts.

Counter-terrorism

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Prime Minister's statement of 7 September 2015, Official Report, column 26, on Syria: refugees and counter-terrorism, how many terror suspects have been (a) arrested and (b) prosecuted in the UK in association with the six attempts to attack the UK.

Mr John Hayes: As the Prime Minister said in his statement to the House (7 Sep 2015: Column 26), it would be inappropriate to comment further.

Visas: Married People

Drew Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the effect of current regulations on spousal visas on low wage families in the UK; and if she will amend spousal visa application criteria to take into account potential employment opportunities that migrant spouses might have to bridge the minimum income threshold.

James Brokenshire: We welcome those who wish to make a life in the UK with their family, work hard and make a contribution, but family life must not be established here at the taxpayer's expense. The minimum income threshold under the family Immigration Rules for sponsoring a non-European Economic Area national spouse to come to the UK aims to prevent burdens on the taxpayer and promote integration. Its level reflects advice from the independent Migration Advisory Committee on the income which means a family settled in the UK will generally cease to be able to access income-related benefits.The employment prospects of the migrant spouse are no guarantee that they will find work in the UK. Those with an appropriate job offer here can apply under Tier 2 of the Points Based System. Migrant spouses coming to the UK under the family route must be capable of being independently supported by their sponsor or by their joint savings or non-employment income. The courts have agreed that this is a matter of public policy for the Government and Parliament to determine.

Northern Ireland Office

Northern Ireland Office: Carbon Emissions

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how much her Department spent on carbon offsetting in each of the last three years; and to which companies payments in respect of carbon offsetting were made in each such year.

Mr Ben Wallace: In the last three years the Northern Ireland Office has spent the following on carbon offsetting:2012 £1,290 paid to the Environment Agency.2013£1,290 paid to the Environment Agency and £1,752 paid to the Department of Energy and Climate Change.2014 £950 paid to the Environment Agency and £3,720 paid to the Department of Energy and Climate Change.

Refugees: France

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps her Department is taking to assist in the transportation via Cork of donations of clothing and other materials from North Down to refugees stranded in Calais; and if she will make a statement.

Mr Ben Wallace: To date we have not been contacted by any organisation seeking our assistance.

Refugees: Syria

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what discussions she has had with the First and Deputy First Ministers of Northern Ireland on accepting refugees from UN camps in countries bordering Syria; and if she will make a statement.

Mr Ben Wallace: On 11 September, I attended the first meeting of the Working Group on Syrian refugees at the Home Office. The Northern Ireland Office will work with the Northern Ireland Executive to ensure that Northern Ireland plays its part in meeting the Government’s aim of resettling vulnerable refugees from Syria and the region.

Kincora Children's Home

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, when the Government papers containing reference to Kincora Boys Home, Belfast that were recently given to the Northern Ireland Historical Abuse Inquiry will be made available for public viewing.

Mr Ben Wallace: The Government is co-operating fully with the Inquiry, including providing full access to review relevant papers.

Refugees: Syria

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what estimate she has made of the number of Syrian refugees who will be accepted by Northern Ireland; and if she will make a statement.

Mr Ben Wallace: The Government is working through the arrangements. However, we recognise that the increase in numbers will require an expansion of current networks and the impact on local communities and infrastructure will need to be managed carefully.We are keen to work with the Northern Ireland Executive to facilitate the settlement of Syrian refugees while ensuring there is an equitable distribution across the country.

Refugees: Syria

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, if she will take steps to ensure additional funding is made available to the Northern Ireland Executive to assist the settlement of Syrian refugees in Northern Ireland over the lifetime of this Parliament; and if she will make a statement.

Mr Ben Wallace: Clearly, the cost of such a major expansion will be significant. The current Syrian resettlement scheme is funded through a mixture of Official Development Assistance and EU funds. It is the Government’s intention that the expansion of the scheme will be funded in the same way, easing the burden on local communities as we meet the moral obligation to play our part in responding to the refugee crisis in Syria.Under existing arrangements, UK resettlement schemes provide 12 months of funding to limit the impact of new arrivals on local authorities and services and to ensure that new arrivals are properly supported and integrated. Beyond that time refugees are treated in the same way as any other UK resident, with access to the labour market and mainstream benefits. This system works well. However, all arrangements will need to be reviewed over the coming weeks given the increase in numbers to ensure fairness, protect local services and the quality of the care provided to refugees.

Department of Health

Hospitals: Parking

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make it his policy to set conditions for the financing of (a) NHS trusts and (b) NHS Foundations Trusts to ensure that these bodies implement the NHS patient, visitor and staff car parking principles.

Alistair Burt: National Health Service organisations have the freedom to make decisions on their car parking to reflect their local situation and needs. The car parking principles provide clear direction and leadership but a central interference in these freedoms would not help NHS trusts and could result in unwarranted interference in how their clinical services are locally managed and delivered.   The powers available to the Secretary of State for Health under Section 42 of the NHS Act 2006 to provide funding to NHS organisations in distress are not appropriate for car parking. There are no other levers or other conditions available for the financing of NHS organisations to implement the NHS patient, visitor and staff car parking principles.

Paediatrics: Audiology

Sir David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what action his Department will take against paediatric audiology services which are not accredited under the Improving Quality in Physiological Services programme.

Sir David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, which paediatric audiology services have not been successful in applying to be accredited under the Improving Quality in Physiological Services Programme.

Alistair Burt: Paediatric audiology services are a clinical commissioning group (CCG) commissioning responsibility nationally; CCGs will commission services from local National Health Service and community trusts, to provide hearing assessments for children and to take referrals from the NHS New-born Hearing Screening Programme.   It is not part of NHS England’s role to take action against paediatric audiology services which are not accredited under the Improving Quality in Physiological Services (IQIPS) programme.   NHS England has committed to increase the number of scientific and diagnostic services which are part of accreditation programmes, and which demonstrate robust quality assurance measures, by the end of March 2016 (NHS England Business Plan (2014-15 to 2016-17).   NHS England is liaising with The United Kingdom Accreditation Services (UKAS), the Royal College of Physicians and other key partners to improve participation in the IQIPS accreditation scheme.   Paediatric audiology services which have not been successful in applying to be accredited under the IQIPS programme are not reported.

Health Services: Reciprocal Arrangements

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many European Health Insurance cards were issued to (a) Swiss nationals and (b) nationals of other EU-countries in each year since 2010.

Alistair Burt: The Department does not hold data on how many European Health Insurance Cards (EHICs) were issued to Swiss nationals and nationals of other European Union (EU) countries in each year since 2010. This is because data on specific nationality is not recorded as part of the application process.   The Department takes any allegations of fraud and abuse seriously and has been working with the National Health Service on an on-going basis to detect and tackle any suspected fraud and error since the introduction of the online EHIC application system in 2006.   It is not possible to accurately quantify the cost of potential fraud at this time.   The Department is tightening up procedures for issuing EHICs and checking EHIC claims to the United Kingdom.   The Department is already undertaking a major piece of work to examine with urgency and identify areas for improvement in all the administrative systems relating to European Economic Area (EEA) healthcare payments, including the EHIC.   Entitlement to EHICs (in all EEA countries) is based on ‘insurability’ under EU law. The UK operates a residency-based healthcare system which means that entitlement to an EHIC is determined by residency in the first instance and not by nationality.

Health Services: Reciprocal Arrangements

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he was first made aware of potential fraud involving foreign nationals using European Health Insurance cards; how much this fraud has cost the UK in each year since 2010; and what steps he is taking to eliminate such fraud.

Alistair Burt: The Department does not hold data on how many European Health Insurance Cards (EHICs) were issued to Swiss nationals and nationals of other European Union (EU) countries in each year since 2010. This is because data on specific nationality is not recorded as part of the application process.   The Department takes any allegations of fraud and abuse seriously and has been working with the National Health Service on an on-going basis to detect and tackle any suspected fraud and error since the introduction of the online EHIC application system in 2006.   It is not possible to accurately quantify the cost of potential fraud at this time.   The Department is tightening up procedures for issuing EHICs and checking EHIC claims to the United Kingdom.   The Department is already undertaking a major piece of work to examine with urgency and identify areas for improvement in all the administrative systems relating to European Economic Area (EEA) healthcare payments, including the EHIC.   Entitlement to EHICs (in all EEA countries) is based on ‘insurability’ under EU law. The UK operates a residency-based healthcare system which means that entitlement to an EHIC is determined by residency in the first instance and not by nationality.

NHS: Temporary Employment

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the total cost to the NHS of temporary staff has been in each of the last five years.

Ben Gummer: The total cost to the National Health Service of temporary staff in 2013-14 and 2014-15 are shown in the table below.2013-14 £000s2014-15 £000sTotal NHS Providers2,605,3783,355,723   Source: Department of Health Annual Report and Accounts 2014-15   We have interpreted “temporary staff” to mean the number of temporary and agency staff employed by NHS providers. NHS providers are defined as NHS trusts and foundation trusts.   2013-14 was the first time that the Department collected unaudited financial data from NHS trusts and foundation trusts in respect of net temporary and agency staffing costs.

Clinical Commissioning Groups

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of Clinical Commissioning Groups incentive schemes.

George Freeman: Incentive schemes for clinical commissioning group (CCGs) commissioning are primarily a matter for NHS England.   NHS England’s Commissioning Committee reviewed the incentives for CCGs and providers in July 2015, and noted that “there is inconclusive evidence as to the consistent effectiveness of current incentives” .   The Committee asked for futher work to be done and for proposals to simplify the incentive schemes to be brought back later in the year.

NHS: Temporary Employment

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what his policy is on reducing the cost to the NHS of temporary staffing.

Ben Gummer: On 2 June 2015, my Rt. Hon. friend the Secretary of State announced a series of measures to reduce the cost to the National Health Service of agency spend. These measures were rolled out on 1 September 2015 and include:   - the setting of an annual ceiling for total nursing agency spend for each NHS trust for October 2015 to March 2016, and 2016/17 to 2018/19;   - mandatory use of approved frameworks for procuring agency staff; and   - a price cap will be set for nursing agency staff and will be implemented later this year, with rules on spending on other clinical and management staff to follow.

Health Services: Telephone Services

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the reasons are for the time taken in the procurement of NHS 111 and out-of-hours call handling services.

Jane Ellison: A letter from Dame Barbara Hakin, the National Director of Commissioning Operations at NHS England, to commissioners in July recommended the introduction of an integrated 24/7 urgent care access, treatment and clinical advice service. NHS England is working to ensure that the procurement of these services is consistent with these standards, which will be published shortly.

Health Services: Telephone Services

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the timetable is for the completion of the tendering and procurement process for NHS 111 and out-of-hours call handling services.

Jane Ellison: Many clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) have been working with stakeholders to design new care pathways that improve the experience and outcomes for patients accessing NHS 111 and GP Out of Hours. Timescales for the re-procurement of NHS 111 and GP Out of Hours vary across the country, depending on contract end dates.

NHS: Finance

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the recommendation of the King's Fund in its report published in July 2015, Making change possible, that a dedicated transformation fund for the NHS be established.

Alistair Burt: The Department will consider the report’s recommendations in developing our plans for working with the National Health Service in implementing the Five Year Forward View.   The Government has already committed £1 billion of transformation funding over four years (2015-16 to 2018-19) for Primary Care and Community Facilities and £200 million in 2015-16 for piloting new models of care.

NHS: Productivity

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to implement the recommendations of the Interim Report of the Review of Operational Productivity in NHS Providers, published in June 2015.

George Freeman: Since the interim report on the review of operational productivity in NHS providers was published in June 2015, the Department has been working continuously with its arm’s length bodies to ensure delivery of the recommendations. Two tools in development are the “Adjusted Treatment Index” and the “Model Hospital”, both of which will be made available to the NHS for further development in order to help improve performance across the hospital sector. Additionally, several initiatives are under way including improvement collaboratives to support workforce efficiency programmes in nursing , hospital pharmacy and medicines optimisation, estates and facilities management and procurement. Lord Carter will complete his review with a full report, which is due later this year.

Hepatitis: Greater London

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the prevalence rate of Hepatitis B was in (a) the London Borough of Ealing and (b) London in each of the last five years.

Jane Ellison: Public Health England does not routinely estimate the prevalence of hepatitis B infection in the general population.

Mental Health Services: Finance

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 16 July to Question 6166, whether all Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) are to receive a funding increase in the next financial year; and whether the expectation in the National Health Service England planning document for 2015-16 that mental health spending will grow in real terms at least as fast as each CCG's overall allocation will be enforceable or a guideline.

Alistair Burt: Clinical commissioning group (CCG) allocations for 2016/17 will be published once the Spending Review has been completed and the NHS Mandate has been agreed.   NHS England’s planning document for 2015/16 set out a clear expectation for CCGs in terms of increasing spend on mental health. CCGs were required to ensure that mental health spend will rise in real terms and grow at least in line with each CCG’s overall allocation growth. Planned expenditure on mental health for each CCG was collected as part of the planning process and checked to see whether the planning requirement had been met. Approximately 90% of CCGs either met or exceeded the planning requirement. Any CCG that did not meet the planning requirement was subject to further assurance through the planning process to ensure that there was a clear rationale for the planned level of investment.

Health Centres: Finance

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 11 June 2015 to Question 1439, how the fund for advanced care in GP practices and community healthcare facilities will be (a) allocated and (b) used.

Alistair Burt: In January 2015, NHS England invited general practices to submit bids for the first £250 million of the fund, for investment in infrastructure in 2015/16. Successful bids had to enable improved access to general practice and/or support the delivery of enhanced services to reduce emergency admissions in over 75s. In March 2015, NHS England announced those bids that had been approved in principle, subject to due diligence checks including securing planning permission. For some practices these checks are still underway. In addition, part of the first year’s funding is being used to address immediate capacity and access issues, as well as to support the delivery of more integrated care in community settings, including increasing facilities for training. This is a four year fund and we will announce the process for future investment in due course.

Health Services: Illegal Immigrants

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many illegal immigrants have received free treatment in NHS hospitals in each of the last five years.

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much owed to the NHS by non-UK patients receiving treatment remains outstanding; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: The Department does not hold this information.   Since 2013-14, the Department has been collecting data on the amount invoiced by National Health Service trusts and NHS foundation trusts, together with amounts recovered and written off by those organisations.   The data is not broken down in any detail, and as such it is impossible to classify by patients’ countries of origin, nationality or immigration status. As such, it will include data on United Kingdom nationals no longer ordinarily resident in the UK and who have been charged under Regulations as well as data pertaining to non-UK nationals.   This data does not provide the amount of debt owed to NHS trusts and NHS foundation trusts by non-UK patients receiving NHS hospital treatment.

Mental Health Services: Out of Area Treatment

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what guidance his Department has issued to clinical commissioning groups on seeking beds for mental health patients outside the immediate area where there is a shortage of beds.

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the average discharge time was for patients in (a) NHS facilities following a first-tier mental health tribunal and (b) private mental health facilities that provide NHS services in the last year for which figures are available.

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the average length of stay was for patients in (a) NHS mental health facilities and (b) private mental health facilities that provide NHS services in the last year for which figures are available.

Alistair Burt: The Department has not issued guidance to clinical commissioning groups on out of area mental health beds.   We do not collect the time of discharge data centrally.   Data on the average median length of stay for patients in mental health facilities is provided in the following table:   Median length of stay in days for discharged hospital spells during 2013/14 and those with an open hospital spell on 31 March 2014, by provider typeDischargesMedian LoS*Median LoS minus Leave Open hospital spellsMedian LoSMedian LoS minus LeaveEngland total116,98823.020.0 23,614117.0112.0NHS112,42223.019.0 21,229102.096.0Independent4,56623.022.0 2,385434.0427.0 Notes:   *LoS = Length of Stay   1. Leave is defined as a period of time outside of hospital, usually at home, with the intention of returning to the same ward to continue the same consultant episode   2. The Data Quality report for March 2014 showed that there was potentially a 2.5% level of duplication of open hospital providers episodes at the end of the month. For this reason the count of total hospital episodes open at the end of the month is slightly higher than that reported in the MHMDS Monthly Report for March, where the measure is a count of mental health care spells with an open hospital episode (23,246).   Source: Mental Health Minimum Dataset (MHMDS) annual file 2013/14.

Doctors: Working Hours

Dr   Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how he will classify residential and non-residential on call as part of his contract reform discussions with the medical profession.

Dr   Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what his policy is towards the classification for pay purposes of (a) the same and (b) different specialities in his contract reform discussions with the medical profession.

Alistair Burt: NHS Employers are currently working on detailed proposals for reformed contracts for consultants and for doctors and dentists in training. These proposals will be based on the recommendations made by the independent Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration in its report published in July 2015. The report can be found at:   https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/contract-reform-for-consultants-and-doctors-and-dentists-in-training-supporting-healthcare-services-seven-days-a-week

Health Professions: Training

Dr   Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much is paid annually to each individual provider sector to provide (a) undergraduate and (b) postgraduate healthcare training.

Ben Gummer: The following is a table of the funding paid to individual provider sectors for undergraduate and postgraduate healthcare training.   SectorPostgraduate Medical and Dental Funding £ millionUndergraduate Medical and Dental Funding £ millionNHS – Providers1 1,449770NHS – Other230033Higher Education1153Local Government00Other34910Total1,810866 Source: Health Education England Analysis by sector of future workforce expenditure   1NHS Providers’ include payments for placements for both secondary care postgraduate medical and dental training, and also hospital placements for general practice (GP) trainees. 2 ‘NHS Other’ includes payments to clinical commissioning groups and commissioning support units relating to GP and Community Dental Training. 3 ‘Other’ refers to coding that is not specific enough to indicate either the sector or the type of trainee, or it relates to multi-professional training that cuts across categories.

Health Professions: Training

Dr   Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much is paid annually to each GP to provide for (a) the undergraduate training of doctors, (b) the postgraduate training of doctors, (c) the undergraduate training of each other category of healthcare worker and (d) the postgraduate training of each other category of healthcare worker.

Ben Gummer: Payments to general practitioner (GP) practices in relation to the education and training of the future GP workforce are administered by Local Education and Training Boards. Data by individual GP practice is not collected centrally.

Health Professions: Training

Dr   Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much is paid annually to the provider sector for (a) the undergraduate training of doctors, (b) the postgraduate training of doctors, (c) the undergraduate training of each other category of healthcare worker, and (d) the postgraduate training of each other category of healthcare worker.

Ben Gummer: The following table details the provider sector expenditure for 2014/15. Non-medical healthcare workers cannot be split into undergraduate and postgraduate categories and are both captured within ‘Non-medical funding’.Postgraduate Medical and Dental Funding  £ millionUndergraduate Medical and Dental Funding  £ millionNon-medicalFunding   £ millionTotal1,8108661,537   Source: Health Education England Analysis by sector of future workforce expenditure

Health Professions: Training

Dr   Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much is paid annually to each GP to provide (a) undergraduate and (b) postgraduate healthcare training.

Ben Gummer: Payments to general practitioner (GP) practices in relation to the education and training of the future GP workforce are administered by Local Education and Training Boards. Data by individual GP practice is not collected centrally.

Accident and Emergency Departments

Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, by what indicators he plans to use to assess the improvement of Trusts receiving support from the Emergency Care Improvement Programme.

Jane Ellison: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 14 September 2015.The correct answer should have been:

Public Health England has developed a campaign to raise awareness of the symptom of breathlessness which ran as a local pilot in Oldham and Rochdale from 24 February – 23 March 2014 and as a regional pilot in the East of England 2 February – 1 March 2015.   The Breathlessness campaign aims to encourage those with inappropriate breathlessness (breathlessness that is disproportionate to the level of activity undertaken i.e. at rest or on minimal exertion) to go and see their general practitioner (GP). It is primarily aimed at earlier diagnosis of heart and lung disease, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, with scope to reduce premature mortality and to improve the quality of life of those living with these conditions. The key message of the campaign is “If you get out of breath doing things that you used to be able to do, see your GP. Getting out of breath could be a sign of heart or lung disease. Finding it early makes it more treatable, so don’t ignore it, tell your doctor”.   Evaluation of the regional pilot is still underway, although early findings from follow-up in-depth interviews with a sample of local GPs and pharmacists and pre and post awareness tracking research among the public, are positive.The Emergency Care Improvement Programme (ECIP) is a clinically led programme that will offer practical help and support to the 27 urgent and emergency care systems across England that are under the most pressure.The progress of trusts taking part in ECIP will be measured by monitoring improvements in their accident and emergency (A&E) four hour waiting time standard, along with patient outcome and experience indicators. The urgent and emergency care systems taking part in this programme were selected based on performance against the A&E four hour standard in 2014/15 and Q1 of 2015/16 alongside discussions with regional teams from NHS England, Monitor and the Trust Development Authority.

Jane Ellison: Public Health England has developed a campaign to raise awareness of the symptom of breathlessness which ran as a local pilot in Oldham and Rochdale from 24 February – 23 March 2014 and as a regional pilot in the East of England 2 February – 1 March 2015.   The Breathlessness campaign aims to encourage those with inappropriate breathlessness (breathlessness that is disproportionate to the level of activity undertaken i.e. at rest or on minimal exertion) to go and see their general practitioner (GP). It is primarily aimed at earlier diagnosis of heart and lung disease, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, with scope to reduce premature mortality and to improve the quality of life of those living with these conditions. The key message of the campaign is “If you get out of breath doing things that you used to be able to do, see your GP. Getting out of breath could be a sign of heart or lung disease. Finding it early makes it more treatable, so don’t ignore it, tell your doctor”.   Evaluation of the regional pilot is still underway, although early findings from follow-up in-depth interviews with a sample of local GPs and pharmacists and pre and post awareness tracking research among the public, are positive.The Emergency Care Improvement Programme (ECIP) is a clinically led programme that will offer practical help and support to the 27 urgent and emergency care systems across England that are under the most pressure.The progress of trusts taking part in ECIP will be measured by monitoring improvements in their accident and emergency (A&E) four hour waiting time standard, along with patient outcome and experience indicators. The urgent and emergency care systems taking part in this programme were selected based on performance against the A&E four hour standard in 2014/15 and Q1 of 2015/16 alongside discussions with regional teams from NHS England, Monitor and the Trust Development Authority.

Accident and Emergency Departments

Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what criteria he has set for NHS Trusts to receive support from the Emergency Care Improvement Programme.

Jane Ellison: The Emergency Care Improvement Programme (ECIP) is a clinically led programme that will offer practical help and support to the 27 urgent and emergency care systems across England that are under the most pressure.   The progress of trusts taking part in ECIP will be measured by monitoring improvements in their accident and emergency (A&E) four hour waiting time standard, along with patient outcome and experience indicators. The urgent and emergency care systems taking part in this programme were selected based on performance against the A&E four hour standard in 2014/15 and Q1 of 2015/16 alongside discussions with regional teams from NHS England, Monitor and the Trust Development Authority.

North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust: Accident and Emergency Departments

Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether he plans to allocate additional funding to North Cumbria University Hospitals Trust through the Emergency Care Improvement Programme.

Jane Ellison: All clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) regardless of their participation in Emergency Care Improvement Programme received additional recurrent funding for seasonal resilience in the 2015/16 allocations. The amount received by North Cumbria CCG for their local organisations and services was £3.6 million.

Medical Records

Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 23 July 2015 to Question 7541, how many representations he has received from (a) individuals and (b) groups (i) in favour of and (ii) against care.data in the last six months.

George Freeman: NHS England carried out an extensive listening exercise following the decision to pause the programme in February 2014. More than 3,000 people took part in over 180 local and regional meetings and events including patients, general practitioners (GPs), practice managers, patient groups and the research community. A range of views were expressed during this engagement and these have helped to shape the programme, including the addition of a phased approach to implementation starting with a pathfinder stage.   Since then the care.data programme has continued to engage with stakeholders with a particular focus on engagement in the pathfinder areas. This engagement has included working with GP practice staff, patient groups, Local Healthwatch and other voluntary sector organisations.

Hospitals: Parking

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department has taken to tackle expensive hospital car parking charges since the publication of its ground rules in August 2014.

Alistair Burt: Decisions on hospital car parking, including charging, are taken locally as National Health Service organisations have the autonomy to make decisions that best suit their local circumstances. However the NHS patient visitor and staff car parking principles published by the Department on 23 August 2014 provide clear direction and leadership and require NHS organisations to publish details of their car parking arrangements including financial information relating to the charges and income which allows patients and the public to hold the NHS locally to account where unfair parking charges occur.   Information about the cost and availability of car parking across the NHS is published annually as part of two data collections - the Patient-Led Assessments of the Care Environment and the Estates Return Information Collection. This information is publicly available and will also help people hold their local hospitals to account.

Hospitals: Waiting Lists

Mr David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of whether there is a differential in waiting times for hospital services provided by hospital trusts in England for residents of (a) Wales and (b) England; and what guidance he has issued to such trusts on that matter.

Jane Ellison: No such assessment has been made, though a number of studies that include a comparison of elective waits between England and Wales have been published, including that by the Nuffield Trust.

Doctors

James Berry: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the average cost to the public purse is of training one medical student; and how many qualified doctors applied for a certificate of good standing in each of the last 10 years.

Ben Gummer: The Personal Social Services Research Unit (PSSRU) at the University of Kent estimates within their report ‘Unit Costs of Health and Social Care 2014’, published March 2014, that the average cost in 2014/15 of training to become a general practitioner is £485,390 with the consultant training cost being £726,551. These figures reflect the pre-registration costs of tuition, living expenses/lost production and clinical placements and the post-graduate costs of tuition and replacement costs not the average cost to the taxpayer. The Department does not keep information centrally on how many doctors applied for a certificate of good standing in each of the last 10 years.

Health Visitors: Training

James Berry: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the minimum number of hours training is that healthcare visitors must receive on providing specific care to the elderly.

Ben Gummer: The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) sets standards for the education of health visitors. Health visitor training is undertaken by already registered nurses or midwives who will have had to meet the relevant NMC standards which require a minimum of 4,600 hours of theory and practice learning. To qualify as a health visitor requires an additional 45 weeks of programmed learning, split equally between theory and practice.   The NMC document, Standards of proficiency for specialist community public health nurses, sets out the requirements that health visitors need to meet to be registered. Although there are no specific requirements regarding the care of the elderly, the NMC has a role to ensure health visitors have the right skills and qualities when they start work.

Ebola: Screening

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what advice and guidance his Department took into account in relaxing Ebola screening at UK airports and international rail terminals.

Jane Ellison: The Government receives expert advice from Public Health England (PHE) and the Chief Medical Officer on the appropriate public health measures to be taken in relation to Ebola. Based on a recent PHE risk assessment the Government took the decision to focus screening at Heathrow and Gatwick, where more than 90% of relevant passengers enter the United Kingdom, including 97% of higher risk workers. Outside London, PHE has put in place robust systems developed with PHE local health protection teams to provide proportionate, risk-based screening locally. Using these measures, all passengers who present for screening from countries where there is sustained community transmission of Ebola continue to have a formal risk assessment. A copy of the risk assessment is attached and can be found at:   https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/437990/PHE_Risk_Assessment_Update_7_FINAL.pdf   



Risk assessment of Ebola
(PDF Document, 178.84 KB)

Electronic Cigarettes: Young People

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what medical guidance his Department provides to young people addicted to e-cigarettes.

Jane Ellison: The Department does not provide medical guidance to young people addicted to e-cigarettes.   The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has issued guidance on harm reduction approaches to smoking. The available evidence suggests that there is experimentation by young people but that around 1% regularly use e-cigarettes and this use is largely concentrated among children who currently or have previously smoked.   The Government does not promote the use of e-cigarettes for young people and has made it illegal to sell e-cigarettes to under-18s from 1 October this year.

Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Kit Malthouse: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people who were (a) drunk and (b) under the influence of alcohol attended Hampshire Hospital NHS Foundation Trust accident and emergency or urgent care centres in each of the last three years; and how many such patients were repeat attendees.

Jane Ellison: This information is not collected centrally.   We have written to Elizabeth Padmore, Chair of Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust informing her of my hon. Friend’s enquiry. She will reply shortly and a copy of the letter will be placed in the Library.

Drugs: Children

Kit Malthouse: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many children aged under 18 have visited A&E departments due to (a) breathing difficulties and (b) other symptoms relating to the completion of legal highs in each of the last three years.

Jane Ellison: This information is not collected centrally.

Blood: Contamination

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions his Department has had with support groups and other charitable organisations on the issue of contaminated blood.

Jane Ellison: Departmental officials meet regularly with the Caxton Foundation, Skipton Trust, McFarlane Trust and the Eileen Trust and with the Hepatitis C Trust from time to time to discuss hepatitis C related matters. Officials also held an introductory meeting with the Chief Executive of the Haemophilia Society earlier this year.

Blood: Contamination

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what his Department's timetable is for the spending of the sum of £25 million allocated for dealing with the issue of contaminated blood.

Jane Ellison: We expect to announce our plans for that money in light of a public consultation into potential scheme reform, and once we have an understanding of how a new scheme might be structured. We do not intend to use this money for the administrative costs that might be associated with closing down the existing schemes.

Blood: Contamination

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Statement of 20 July 2015, Official Report, column 1221, on contaminated blood, what discussions his Department has had with the Scottish Government on the issue of contaminated blood.

Jane Ellison: The four United Kingdom health departments have been working closely together on this matter; officials in the Department of Health in England have had regular contact with their counterparts in the three devolved administrations and will continue to do so. In addition this matter was one of the subjects discussed in a recent call I had with Scottish Health Ministers.   The Scottish Government is undertaking its own consultation into scheme reform with patient groups within Scotland, and we look forward to being able to see the results of this activity. When we launch our own consultation later this year, we will continue to work with the Scottish government.

General Practitioners

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to give patients greater freedom to book appointments at any GP practice.

Alistair Burt: Since January 2015, all general practitioner (GP) practices may register patients from outside their traditional practice boundary areas.   This benefits patients by giving them more freedom, choice and control over where they access GP services.   It is for individual practices to decide whether it would be clinically appropriate or practical to accept patients from outside the practice area onto their list. Where they do so, NHS England is responsible for arrangements for home visiting or access to urgent care for those patients when away from the practice area.

NHS: Internet

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to encourage NHS organisations to allow patients to book appointments online.

George Freeman: Working with the Department, NHS England’s vision is to transform health and care services to help citizens make the right health and care choices for them. The ability for people to choose and make appointments online is an integral part of this vision.   Over the last two years NHS England has been working with general practice to drive forward the capability for online booking.   The patient online programme that has been run by NHS England has meant that now over 97% of general practitioner (GP) practices now offer access to online booking/cancelling of appointments to their patients. This is an outstanding achievement and there is a clear potential to do more and deliver substantial benefits to patients and practices.   11% of patients are now registered for online appointment booking. In quarter one of 2015/16, 2.3 million appointments were booked /cancelled online.   NHS England has been supporting general practices by providing tools and resources, which have been developed jointly with the Royal College of General Practitioners. There is also on the ground support available from experienced change specialists and practicing clinicians (Digital Clinical Champions) working with the Patient Online programme.   NHS England is also actively encouraging patients to request online services, starting with the upcoming Fresher’s week campaign in September 2015.   The evolution of Choose and Book to the NHS e-Referral Service (eRS) in June of this year maintained the ability for patients to choose the provider for a referral to elective care and the option to book change or amend their secondary care appointment online.   The commitments made through the National Information Board for the electronic referral system in support of elective care will widen the capability and allow use of other technology such as phone apps to support patients in booking hospital appointments while on the move. The system will also support online booking of appointments into community type services, such as those provided by community nurses and Allied Healthcare Professionals.   For primary care we have established a dedicated programme that will:   - provide citizens with a greater choice and flexibility in finding and booking appointments with the most appropriate service, and with the ability to edit/ cancel/ change appointments. This will be expanded to cover specialist services and nurse led clinics; - digital interaction and communication channels will become part of the embedded mechanism to manage demand and signpost to appropriate services; - enable citizens to communicate with their GP or ‘multi-disciplinary team’ via online communications at their own convenience; - provide citizens the ability to (following the initial primary care decision to refer) book and manage their secondary care appointments online, including the ability to cancel and reschedule appointments after an initial appointment has been made and the ability to switch to an alternative provider; and - provide the ability for the online registration and facility to change GP.   NHS Choices will be transformed into a multi-channel platform for the whole health and care system, “nhs.uk”, will provide a single access point for citizens, in time, NHS England would expect that this would become the door to online health, care accounts as well as online appointment booking.

NHS: Telecommunications

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to encourage NHS organisations to communicate with patients electronically.

George Freeman: Changing clinical communications from paper to electronic message is a key digital enabler to sharing information electronically with patients. This includes the requirement that by October 2015, all discharge summaries from acute National Health Service organisations (for both inpatient and day case) to general practitioner practices will no longer be able to be shared via paper/fax and must use an electronic channel. This will enable local organisations to make these available to patients as part of developing their local online and digital services.   Work is being led by the National Information Board to deliver commitments published in its framework for action ‘Personalised Health and Care 2020’ that:   - by 2018, clinicians in primary care, urgent and emergency care and other key transitions of care contexts will be operating without the use of paper records; and   - by 2020, all care records will be digital, real-time and interoperable.

Pharmacy

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to his speech of 19 June 2015, on A new deal for general practice, and the announcement in that speech of a £7.5 million fund to support community pharmacists with training and tools, in what ways he expects the new fund to support community pharmacists will be used to (a) improve access to health care and (b) improve linked working between pharmacists and GPs.

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to his speech of 19 June 2015, on A new deal for general practice, how the new £7.5 million fund to support community pharmacists with training and tools will be administered; what the eligibility criteria will be for that fund; when he expects the first grants to be made under the fund; and how the outcomes of successful applications under the fund will be measured.

George Freeman: Under the plans announced by my Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health, on 19 June 2015, up to £7.5 million in funding is being provided by NHS England to support all community pharmacies in England to implement access to the Summary Care Record (SCR). This includes ensuring adequate training, and that all necessary information governance and security requirements are in place.   Wider implementation of the SCR within community pharmacy across England will begin from autumn 2015. The plan will complete delivery to all 11,647 pharmacies and this is expected to be completed by autumn 2017.   Access to the SCR means that, with their consent, patients can receive even more support from authorised health professionals working in community pharmacy. This could be where a patient is unable to access their repeat medicines and needs emergency supplies or is seeking advice from the pharmacy - and access to their SCR will help the health professional give them advice about the most effective course of action. It may also help minimise the risk of prescribing errors.

General Practitioners

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to his speech of 19 June 2015, on A new deal for general practice, in what ways he expects GPs to play more of a role in public health.

Alistair Burt: The Five Year Forward View focuses on prevention of illness and empowering patients to take an active role in their health and wellbeing with the support of clinicians and other healthcare professionals.   As my Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State outlined, this includes general practice working across traditional boundaries with other sectors to ensure patients are able to access the most appropriate service. Supporting general practice to take on a bigger role in public health would help to implement a proactive approach to the whole practice population.   In general, general practitioners have an important role to play in supporting public health, for example, through offering vaccinations. General practice is well placed to encourage people to lead healthy lifestyles, as well as to direct people to other appropriate public health or prevention services.   Supporting general practice to take on a bigger role in public health would help to implement a proactive approach to the whole practice population in relation to primary and secondary prevention, for example inclusion of weight management, physical activity and healthy eating programmes into existing care pathways. This helps patients to become more actively involved in maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

General Practitioners

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to his speech of 19 June 2015, on A new deal for general practice, what the terms of reference will be of the review by the Health Foundation and NHS England of data and metrics assessing quality in general practice; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: The Health Foundation has said that they will publish an independent review of data and metrics assessing quality in general practice at the end of September 2015.   The attachment ‘The Health Foundation’s GP indicators review’ contains the terms of reference for this review. 



The Health Foundation's GP Indicators Review
(PDF Document, 100.93 KB)

General Practitioners: Recruitment

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to his speech of 19 June 2015, on A new deal for general practice, what estimate he has made of the number of new GPs the NHS will recruit following (a) Health Education England's new pre-GP scheme, (b) a new national marketing scheme promoting general practice to medical students, (c) returner schemes for GPs returning from career breaks or practice overseas and (d) improved opportunities for flexible working for GPs approaching retirement.

Ben Gummer: The Government is committed to increasing the primary and community care workforce by at least 10,000 by 2020, including an estimated 5,000 extra doctors working in general practice.   In support of that commitment, Health Education England (HEE); NHS England; the Royal College of General Practitioners and the BMA General Practitioners Committee have published a joint 10 point plan, “Building the Workforce”, setting out actions to boost the general practitioner (GP) workforce.   As part of its mandate commitment, HEE will ensure a minimum of 3,250 trainees per year are recruited to GP training programmes in England by 2016. HEE’s plans to fill the increased number of training places include a marketing campaign targeted at junior doctors to highlight the benefits of choosing a career in general practice and a new pre-GP scheme targeted at those areas of the country that have historically been difficult to recruit to.   Alongside plans to increase recruitment to GP training, the 10 point plan partner organisations are working to improve retention of experienced GPs in the workforce and help support GPs to return to practice. NHS England launched a new national returner scheme in March 2015, which has so far attracted over 100 applications, and NHS England is currently working to develop flexibilities that might encourage GPs to remain in the workforce.

Primary Health Care: Recruitment

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to his speech of 19 June 2015, on A new deal for general practice, what estimate he has made of the number of (a) practice nurses, (b) district nurses, (c) physicians' associates and (d) pharmacists that the NHS will need to recruit in the primary care sector to meet the goals outlined in his speech.

Alistair Burt: My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health announced on 19 June the first stages of a New Deal for general practice. As part of that New Deal, the Department is committed to working to increase the primary and community care workforce by at least 10,000 by 2020. This number will comprise a range of roles across the primary and community care workforce, including an additional 1,000 physician associates available to work in primary care by 2020.   Health Education England (HEE) has responsibility for workforce planning and commissioning education and training. In December 2014 HEE established an independent Primary Care Workforce Commission, chaired by Professor Martin Roland, Professor of Health Services Research, University of Cambridge, to inform priorities for HEE investment in education and training to deliver a primary care workforce that is fit for purpose, flexible and able to adapt to new models of primary care.   The Commission’s report was published in July 2015 and has identified good examples of integrated, patient focused, primary care. The report will inform HEE’s priorities for education and training to ultimately deliver a primary care workforce that is fit for purpose, flexible and able to respond to new models of care.   HEE is considering the recommendations that the report has outlined and will formally respond in due course.

General Practitioners

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to his speech of 19 June 2015, on A new deal for general practice, in what ways he plans for GPs to work more closely with (a) the social care sector, (b) the community care sector and (c) mental health providers.

Alistair Burt: The NHS Five Year Forward View set out the ambition that over the next five years and beyond, the traditional boundaries between general practitioners (GPs) and hospitals, social care and mental health services will be dissolved, in recognition of the fact that rather than a single episode of care, people increasingly need a range of services over a longer period, organised around their specific needs.   A number of established initiatives are already driving this, such as the Better Care Fund, where councils and clinical commissioning groups are required to pool a proportion of their respective budgets and spend this on the joined-up provision of health and care services, and improved communication between general practice and other sectors, with many GPs now providing dedicated phone lines and timely access for staff in other care settings to contact them for advice.   Key to supporting the closer working of GPs and other sectors are the 29 vanguard geographies that were announced in March this year. These bring home care, mental health and community nursing, GP services and hospitals together for the first time since 1948.   - 14 multispecialty community providers are moving care out of hospitals into the community by bringing together GPs and specialists, for example those who work in mental health; - nine integrated primary and acute care systems are joining together GP, hospital, community and mental health services; - six sites covering enhanced health in care homes are offering older people better, joined up health, care and rehabilitation services.   Together with other vanguard sites looking at coordinated urgent and emergency care, and the acute care collaboration sites that will be announced later this year, it is estimated that the vanguards will benefit more than five million patients, and they will take the national lead on the development of innovative care models.

NHS: Awards

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make it his policy to introduce two clinical excellence awards schemes for both clinical academic excellence and clinical service excellence.

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department plans to review the criteria for granting clinical excellence awards.

Alistair Burt: As my Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced in his Written Ministerial Statement of 16 July, we will consult on removal of the current local clinical excellence award scheme in the autumn, alongside proposals for a reformed national clinical excellence award scheme based on the recommendations previously made by the Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration. We will be mindful of the importance of recognising those doctors who have national leadership roles in the National Health Service and the substantial contribution made by clinical academics.

NHS: Awards

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, which body has responsibility for signing off the criteria used to judge consultant clinical excellence awards.

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, which body has responsibility for reviewing and changing the criteria used to judge consultant clinical excellence awards.

Alistair Burt: Clinical Excellence Awards recognise and reward NHS consultants and academic general practitioners who perform ‘over and above’ the standard expected of their role. Awards are given for quality and excellence, acknowledging exceptional personal contributions.   The Advisory Committee on Clinical Excellence Awards is a non-departmental public body. It issues guides to the Scheme setting out the detailed criteria against which applicants will be assessed. The assessment criteria are found in the Guide for Assessors. The guides are issues for a specific annual awards round and any changes to criteria are included in the guides.   The Committee makes recommendations to Ministers on national award nominations proposed by the Chair and Medical Director, and based on recommendations from sub-committees and national bodies.

Hospitals: Consultants

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what his Department's definition is of (a) academic and (b) service consultants.

Alistair Burt: Clinical academics are doctors and dentists (including consultants and general practitioners) who are employed by higher education institutions, or other organisations, in a research and/or teaching capacity and who also provide services for National Health Service patients as part of honorary NHS contracts.   Service consultants are employed by NHS organisations.

Hospitals: Parking

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure NHS organisations implement guidance that car parking concessions should be available to (a) visitors with relatives who are gravely ill and (b) visitors to relatives who have an extended stay in hospital.

Alistair Burt: The Department published National Health Service patient, visitor and staff car parking principles on 23 August 2014. These principles made it clear that NHS trusts should provide concessions for several groups including visitors with relatives who are gravely ill and visitors to relatives who have an extended stay in hospital. They make it clear that NHS trusts should publish:   - their parking policy; - their implementation of the NHS car parking principles; - financial information relating to their car parking arrangements; and - summarised complaint information on car parking and actions taken in response.   In line with our policy of making all key information transparently available to patients, our expectation is that this information including information on concessions will be displayed prominently on trust websites so that patients and the public can hold the NHS locally to account where unfair parking charges and practices remain in place.   The Health and Social Care Information Centre collects information annually via the Patient-Led Assessments of the Care Environment (PLACE) on behalf of the Department on NHS compliance with these principles, including the provision of concessions. The published results provide assurance to patients and the public that NHS organisations are complying with the Principles.   To help NHS organisations deliver the above principles the Department published NHS Car Parking Management: Environment and Sustainability (HTM 07-03) on 25 March 2015.

Hospitals: Parking

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans his Department has to review NHS organisations' responses to the Patient-Led Assessments of the Care Environment and whether (a) they provide car parking charge concessions in accordance with the NHS patient, visitor and staff car parking principles and (b) information about the concessionary scheme is prominently publicised.

Alistair Burt: The National Health Service patient, visitor and staff car parking principles, published on 23 August 2014, ask NHS hospitals to publish: - their parking policy; - their implementation of the NHS car parking principles; - financial information relating to their car parking arrangements; and - summarised complaint information on car parking and actions taken in response. We expect this information to be displayed prominently on trust websites so that patients and the public can hold the NHS locally to account where unfair parking charges and practices remain in place.   Results from the 2015 Patient-Led Assessments of the Care Environment (someished car parking princioplesll NHS organisations to take steps to ensurePLACE) collection show that over 75% of sites that charge for car parking currently operate a concessions scheme and display it prominently. We are disappointed that this means a number of hospital boards have not yet decided to follow the best practice set out in the principles.   To check compliance with the principles, the same PLACE questions will be asked in 2016 and we expect to see an improvement in the results.

Bereavement Counselling: Young People

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what support is available for young adults dealing with a family bereavement due to cancer in (a) England and (b) East Lancashire.

Ben Gummer: Bereavement services are locally commissioned by clinical commissioning groups.   From a national perspective, NHS England advises that it commissions the National Council for Palliative Care to coordinate the Dying Matters Coalition (www.dyingmatters.org/page/coping-bereavement). This includes a wide range of work for raising public awareness and encouraging conversations about death, dying and bereavement, which affect young adults dealing with a family bereavement.   The National Palliative and End of Life Care Partnership, of which NHS England is a member, published its new Ambitions for Palliative and End of Life Care: A national framework for local action 2015-2020 on 8 September 2015. The National Bereavement Alliance, which includes the Children’s Bereavement Network, is a member of this Partnership as well. One of the foundations identified as being required in order to achieve the six ambitions articulated in this framework is ‘Involving, supporting and caring for those important to the dying person’. This refers to the young adult dealing with a family bereavement as well.   In One Chance to Get it Right (published June 2014), which was the system-wide response to the report More Care Less Pathway, the Leadership Alliance for the Care of Dying People (of which NHS England was a member) included in its recommendations on ‘desired characteristics of education and training programmes for care in the last days of life’, a learning objective on ‘assessing and addressing the needs of those important to the dying person, including in bereavement’.   In addition, NHS England has recently completed a project with NHS Choices to improve the range and quality of information available on end of life care on its website – including information around bereavement:   www.nhs.uk/Livewell/bereavement/Pages/young-people-bereavement.aspx

Diabetes

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of (a) adults and (b) children with Type 1 diabetes were being treated with insulin pumps in (i) England, (ii) the North West and (iii) East Lancashire in each year since 2008.

Jane Ellison: Information on the number of people using insulin pumps is not collected centrally.

Penicillin: Allergies

Sir David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many incidences of allergic reaction to penicillin were reported in each year since 2010.

George Freeman: Reports of suspected adverse drug reactions (ADRs) are collected by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and Commission for Human Medicines through the spontaneous reporting scheme, the Yellow Card Scheme. The scheme collects suspected ADR reports from the whole of the United Kingdom in relation to all medicines and vaccines. Reporting to the Yellow Card Scheme is voluntary for healthcare professionals and members of the public, there is however also a legal obligation for pharmaceutical companies to report all serious ADRs for their products that they are aware of.   Table 1 shows the number of UK suspected spontaneous ADR reports received by the MHRA of ‘Allergic conditions’ associated with penicillins (Benethamine Penicillin, Benzylpenicillin, Penicillin, Phenoxymethylpenicillin) between 1 January 2010 and 4 September 2015.   Table 1. The number of UK suspected spontaneous ADR reports received by the MHRA of ‘Allergic conditions’ associated with penicillins (Benethamine Penicillin, Benzylpenicillin, Penicillin, Phenoxymethylpenicillin) between 1 January 2010 and 4 September 2015.   Year received by agencyNumber of reports20104201128201256201344201461201568*Total261   *2015 Total up to 4 September 2015 Source: MHRA Sentinel database for adverse reactions.   It is important to note that Yellow Card reports are not proof of a side effect occurring but only a suspicion by the reporter that the medicine may have caused the side effect. Yellow Card reports may therefore relate to true side effects of the medicine, or they may be due to coincidental illnesses that would have occurred in the absence of medicine.

Penicillin: Allergies

Sir David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many incidences of allergic reaction to penicillin during periods of maternity care were reported in each year since 2010.

Sir David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many women were diagnosed as being allergic to penicillin in England in each year since 2010.

Sir David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people were diagnosed as being allergic to penicillin in England in each year since 2010.

Jane Ellison: Information concerning the number of people diagnosed as being allergic to penicillin on an annual basis in England is not collected.   In September 2014, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence published Drug allergy: diagnosis and management of drug allergy in adults, children and young people. The guideline states that about 10% of the general population claim to have a penicillin allergy, but fewer than 10% of people who think they are allergic to penicillin are truly allergic. A copy of the guideline can be found at the following link :   www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg183

Medical Treatments

Sir David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what work his Department has carried out to establish acceptable levels of over treatment or treatment of false positive symptoms or test results in order to prevent death or disability.

George Freeman: No such work has been undertaken by the Department.   Clinicians are responsible for their own treatment decisions taking any relevant guidance into account. For example the General Medical Council’s, “Good practice in prescribing and managing medicines and devices (2013)”.   They should always satisfy themselves that the drugs or other substances they consider appropriate for their patients can be safely prescribed, that patients are adequately monitored and that, where necessary, additional support or supervision is available.

Cardiovascular System: Diseases

Sir David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress his Department has made on achieving action 7 of the Cardiovascular Disease Outcomes Strategy published in 2013, on giving all cardiovascular disease patients access to what is recognised as the right treatment, including specialist teams and 24/7 services where appropriate for people with heart failure.

Sir David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people (a) were admitted to hospital for and (b) died from heart failure in each of the last five years; and what steps he is taking to improve patient outcomes for heart failure.

Jane Ellison: It is for NHS England, working with Public Health England (PHE) and other stakeholders, to implement the actions set out in the Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) Outcomes Strategy.   NHS England hosts an expert forum which brings together the relevant National Clinical Directors, the main relevant national charities, NHS Improving Quality, the National CVD Intelligence Network, PHE and the Department. This collaborative continues to coordinate delivery of the work which was initiated in the CVD Outcomes Strategy. In addition, NHS England’s National Clinical Director for Heart Disease works with stakeholders on giving all cardiovascular disease patients, including those with heart disease, access to the right treatment.   As part of its work on the seven days services programme NHS Improving Quality has surveyed 24/7 diagnostic service provision (including cardiac physiology) and has announced early adopter seven day sites. One of these adopter sites focuses on provision of seven day services to support cardiac interventions and improved bed usage. More details can be found at:   http://www.nhsiq.nhs.uk/media/2422315/papworth_foundation_cs.pdf   NHS England and the Department continue to take forward work on the development of seven day services.   Information on the number of people who were admitted to hospital for and died from heart failure in each of the last five years is set out in the attached tables. 



Hosp. discharge method of died from heart failure
(Excel SpreadSheet, 36.75 KB)




Number of deaths registered as heart failure
(Excel SpreadSheet, 30.86 KB)

Ophthalmic Services

Sir David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the findings have been of the Call to Action on improving eye health and the provision of NHS eye health services.

Sir David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when his Department's response to the Call to Action on improving eye health and the provision of NHS eye health services will be published.

Alistair Burt: NHS England has not formally published the Call to Action. NHS England has advised that key themes arising from the Call to Action responses included:   - a desire to see a greater delivery of care in the community; - a call for greater patient and user involvement in service redesign, particularly with more engagement of third sector organisations; and - recognition that care pathways for eye health disorders needed to better reflect opportunities for health promotion, more consistent adoption of good practice guidelines in terms of management, and greater awareness of reablement /rehabilitation for service users with visual impairment and sight loss.   There was also feedback which highlighted the need for a review of information technology systems across England to better support integration of the eye sector in both community and hospital services.   We understand NHS England has discussed the findings with commissioners and stakeholders and that work is underway to develop local and national responses to the findings as part of NHS England business plan for 2015/16.

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Nick Thomas-Symonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to raise awareness of support groups to people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Jane Ellison: Raising awareness of support groups to people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is not a part of our public awareness campaign on breathlessness, however, we do signpost to the British Lung Foundation and the British Heart Foundation on our website.

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Nick Thomas-Symonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to raise public awareness of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Jane Ellison: Public Health England has developed a campaign to raise awareness of the symptom of breathlessness which ran as a local pilot in Oldham and Rochdale from 24 February – 23 March 2014 and as a regional pilot in the East of England 2 February – 1 March 2015.   The Breathlessness campaign aims to encourage those with inappropriate breathlessness (breathlessness that is disproportionate to the level of activity undertaken i.e. at rest or on minimal exertion) to go and see their general practitioner (GP). It is primarily aimed at earlier diagnosis of heart and lung disease, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, with scope to reduce premature mortality and to improve the quality of life of those living with these conditions. The key message of the campaign is “If you get out of breath doing things that you used to be able to do, see your GP. Getting out of breath could be a sign of heart or lung disease. Finding it early makes it more treatable, so don’t ignore it, tell your doctor”.   Evaluation of the regional pilot is still underway, although early findings from follow-up in-depth interviews with a sample of local GPs and pharmacists and pre and post awareness tracking research among the public, are positive.

Mental Health Services: Children

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the average waiting time is from referral to first appointment for Croydon Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service.

Alistair Burt: This data is not collected centrally.   Some data is available at local level. However, for specialist or acute mental health services, waiting times vary according to the degree of urgency for each case. These are assessed by senior clinicians in South London and Maudsley (SLAM) who provide services for children and young people in Croydon and are reviewed as soon as new information is available.   In recognition of the fact that there are long waiting times for community mental health services for children and young people, Croydon Clinical Commissioning Group (Croydon CCG) has committed to a 16% uplift to specialist Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services for 2015/16 onwards. This will introduce additional capacity into community mental health services to improve access for routine appointments. This is likely to be further enhanced by additional funding which is being allocated for children and young people’s mental health by the Government to CCGs and their partners, through the local transformation plans.

NHS: Drugs

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to ensure that patients have access to (a) nivolumab as a treatment for melanoma and (b) other new medicines that have been designated as Promising Innovative Medicines by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency while appraisal decisions from NICE are pending.

George Freeman: The Early Access to Medicines Scheme (EAMS) was launched in April 2014. Its purpose is to support access in the United Kingdom to unlicensed or off-label medicines representing a significant advance in treatment in areas of unmet medical need. EAMS is a 2 step process:   First the Promising Innovative Medicine designation by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is designed to give an early signal that based on early clinical evidence the medicine may be a possible candidate for EAMS and thus have the potential to be of value in areas of unmet medical need. Second, the EAMS scientific opinion by the MHRA, which we envisage will usually be towards the end of the development process, will enable prescribers and patients to decide if the EAMS medicine might be suitable for that individual patient. Nivolumab has been given a positive scientific opinion for both lung cancer and melanoma under the EAMS. For medicines granted a scientific opinion and which then receive a marketing authorisation, it is for commissioners to make funding decisions in advance of any technology appraisal guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.   The EAMS is being considered by the Accelerated Access Review currently underway.

Skin Cancer: Drugs

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the timeline is for the NICE Single Technology Appraisal of nivolumab for the treatment of melanoma.

George Freeman: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) currently expects to publish its first technology appraisal on the use of nivolumab (Opdivo) for the treatment of melanoma in May 2016. Further information is available at:   www.nice.org.uk/guidance/indevelopment/gid-tag515   NICE is also developing technology appraisal guidance on the use of nivolumab in combination with ipilimumab (Yervoy) for the treatment of melanoma and expects to issue final guidance in September 2016.

Skin Cancer: Drugs

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he expects nivolumab to be available to NHS melanoma patients.

George Freeman: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is currently developing technology appraisal guidance on the use of nivolumab (Opdivo) for the treatment of melanoma.   In the absence of guidance from NICE, it is for commissioners to make decisions on whether to fund new medicines based on an assessment of the available evidence.   We take the issue of ensuring rapid access to innovative therapies very seriously, which is why we have launched an Accelerated Access Review to make recommendations to Government on speeding up access for National Health Service patients to innovative and cost effective new medicines, diagnostics and medical technologies.

Female Genital Mutilation: North West

Mr Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many patients treated in (a) Preston, (b) Lancashire and (c) North West England have been suspected to have been subjected to female genital mutilation in each of the last five years.

Jane Ellison: Information is not available in the format requested.   The Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) Prevalence Dataset (ISB 1610) began in 2014. The data provided in the table is for September 2014 to March 2015 inclusive. Prior to that no data was collected on FGM prevalence. The information that is available is presented in the following table.Newly identifiedTotal number of care contactsEast Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust*0Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust00NHS England North (Lancashire and Greater Manchester)3491,395England3,96317,875   Source: Health and Social Care Information Centre   Notes: 1. Newly identified are those patients first identified during the reporting period as having undergone FGM. This will include those diagnosed/identified within the provider within the month.2. The table shows the total number of care contacts of any type recorded for any patient within the reporting period (number of patients with FGM first identified in reporting period and number of patients with FGM active caseload). 3. * Where values are shown as * (an asterisk), the data has been suppressed for reasons of statistical and information governance. 4. For Preston, data has been supplied for the following trusts: - East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust - Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 5. For Lancashire and North West England data has been aggregated for the following trusts, based on the region (geography) NHS England North (Lancashire and Greater Manchester): - Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust - Bolton NHS Foundation Trust - Bridgewater Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust - Calderstones Partnership NHS Foundation Trust - Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust - East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust - Greater Manchester West Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust - Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust - Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust - North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust - Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust - Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust - Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust - Stockport NHS Foundation Trust - Tameside Hospital NHS Foundation Trust - The Christie NHS Foundation Trust - University Hospital of South Manchester NHS Foundation Trust - Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust 6. An individual seen by more than one trust will be counted more than once, so there is possibility for duplicate counting.7. Collection of the FGM Enhanced Dataset (SCCI2026), including individual patient level data, began in April 2015. Data is being collected by acute trusts, mental health trusts and from general practitioner practices. The first publication of this data will be in September 2015.

Nurses: Migrant Workers

Mr Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many nurses from non-European Economic Area countries granted Tier 2 visas between 6 April 2011 and 5 April 2012 and employed on an annual salary of below £35,000 are employed by (a) Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust, (b) Lancashire Teaching Hospitals, (c) East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust and (d) University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust.

Ben Gummer: The Department does not hold this information.   The Home Office estimate that there were 713 visas issued to nurses in 2011/12 to whom the pay threshold and six year cap would apply if they are still resident in the United Kingdom.

NHS: Pay

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of the pay freeze on long-term retention rates for NHS nurses and support staff.

Alistair Burt: For just two years (2011/2012 and 2012/2013) most public sector, including National Health Service staff were subject to a pay freeze. Staff earning £21,000 or less were excluded from the pay freeze and received a consolidated payment of £250.00 in each year.   Over the following three years (2013/2014 to 2015/2016) all employed NHS staff received at least 1% in consolidated or non-consolidated pay increases.   In addition to consolidated and non-consolidated pay increases, over the last five years, just over half of all employed NHS staff also received incremental pay at an average of over 3% each year.   Over the last five years, the NHS Pay Review Body which makes pay recommendations to government for non-medical NHS staff (which includes nurses and support staff) did not identify any significant recruitment and retention issues for nurses or support staff.   Since May 2010 there are 7,140 more nurses and midwives, an increase of 2.3%.   At a time of difficult decisions, the Government’s pay policy will help to ensure the NHS workforce is affordable and protect jobs.

NHS: Labour Turnover

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to improve retention rates among NHS nurses and support staff.

Ben Gummer: Healthcare providers are responsible for ensuring that they have the right level of staffing to provide high quality care. Health Education England will work with Local Education and Training Boards and others to ensure that there are sufficient nurses and other staff being trained to meet the needs of patients.   In addition to this, as part of the Spending Review the Department will look at all of its expenditure including how we may further increase retention in the healthcare workforce. In doing so we will look to learn from other sectors, where retention schemes have been developed to ensure a return on tax-payer investment.

Parkinson's Disease

Mary Glindon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people with Parkinson's disease have been admitted to a secure NHS mental health institution in each (a) trust and (b) health board area in the last five years.

Alistair Burt: The information is not held centrally.

Huntington's Disease: Plymouth

Oliver Colvile: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many cases of Huntington's Disease there are in Plymouth.

Oliver Colvile: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will establish a cross-government Huntington's Disease strategy.

George Freeman: There were less than six admissions with a primary diagnosis of Huntingdon’s Disease for Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust in the year 2013-14; this is not a count of people as the same person may have had more than one admission episode within the same time period. This does not include any cases there may have been with independent providers.   The Department published a UK Strategy for Rare Diseases in 2013 and established the UK Rare Disease Forum to monitor the progress against the UK Strategy. The UK Rare Disease Forum is due to report on the progress made against the recommendations made in the UK Strategy in 2016.   Patients with Huntington's disease already have access to a range of NHS services including those provided by general practitioners and associated health professionals, neurology services, occupational therapists, speech and language therapists, local mental health services and palliative care where appropriate.   Patients with Huntington’s disease will benefit from the implementation of the UK Rare Disease Strategy that will lead to further improvements in the diagnostic pathway for this condition.

Mental Health Services: Children

David Mackintosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to improve support for children and young people with mental health issues.

Alistair Burt: After publishing Future in mind in March this year, The Department is working closely with NHS England and other partners to improve children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing. This is a major priority of the Government.   The first major step for achieving sustainable, system-wide transformation is the development of local transformation plans in line with proposals put forward in Future in mind. On 3 August 2015, NHS England published guidance requiring all clinical commissioning groups to develop these plans, working across the NHS, health and wellbeing boards, public health, local authority, youth justice and education sectors. These plans should cover the full spectrum of interventions: from prevention to support and care for existing, or emerging mental health problems, as well as transitions between services and addressing the needs of the most vulnerable. A national programme of work to support local transformation is under way, which includes tackling stigma, improving data and information to inform greater transparency and accountability and developing a specialist and stronger workforce.

Nurses: Migrant Workers

Heidi Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many nurses from non-EEA countries granted Tier 2 visas between 6 April 2011 and 5 April 2012 and employed on salaries below £35,000 per year are employed by each (a) hospital and (b) hospital trust in London.

Ben Gummer: The Department does not hold this information.   The Home Office estimate that there were 713 visas issued to nurses in 2011/12 to whom the pay threshold and six year cap would apply if they are still resident in the United Kingdom.

Nurses: Migrant Workers

Heidi Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of nurses who will leave the NHS in 2017 as a result of changes to the immigration rules which will require non-EEA nationals with Tier 2 visas to earn £35,000 per year before they are allowed to stay in the UK; and what steps he is taking to prevent staff shortages as a result.

Ben Gummer: The Home Office estimate that there were 713 visas issued to nurses in 2011/12 to whom the pay threshold and six year cap would apply if they are still resident in the United Kingdom.   Health Education England is implementing a number of steps to increase nurses numbers within the National Health Service. These plans include: - increases in the number of training commissions, which will deliver over 23,000 more nurses by 2019; - a Return to Practice programme, aimed at encouraging previously qualified nurses that have left the NHS, to update their skills and qualifications and return to practice within the NHS, and - the provision of flexible routes into nursing for pre-existing support staff, such as part-time nursing degrees in partnership with the Open University for care assistants who have been sponsored by their employer.   Additionally, the Chief Nursing Officer has established a programme board to oversee activities aimed at increasing nursing numbers.

Alcoholic Drinks: Crime

Phil Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to promote alcohol counselling to prevent alcohol-related crime.

Jane Ellison: A key step in helping to prevent alcohol-related crime is the Liaison and Diversion (L&D) programme. This programme is a cross government initiative, led by NHS England and has developed the first national model for delivering liaison and diversion services to people in contact with the criminal justice system. 25 trial sites have been commissioned by NHS England.   The programme aims to identify, assess and refer people into appropriate treatment and support services at their first point of contact with the criminal justice system. The exact approach may vary in different areas, for instance some L&D services may directly provide brief counselling-type interventions to individuals, but others may refer into existing alcohol treatment and advice services.   Another key piece of work is a recent Public Health England pilot of alcohol brief interventions in North West England where prisoners whose offending is linked to alcohol misuse were offered brief interventions pre-release and then by their offender manager after release. The pilot is due to report later this year.   Government is keen to promote recovery from alcohol problems, and this year the Department added a new condition to the ring-fenced public health grant to local authorities, stating that they should have regard to the need to improve the take up of, and outcomes from, their alcohol and drug misuse treatment services.

Doctors: Working Hours

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the recent European Court of Justice ruling on the case brought against Iceland by the European Commission in respect of the Working Time Directive; and what discussions he has had with medical organisations on this matter.

Ben Gummer: Iceland is not a member of the European Union and the Department is not aware of any European Court of Justice rulings brought against Iceland.

Plasma Resources

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much his Department has received to date from the sale of Plasma Resource UK Ltd.

George Freeman: The Department sold 80% of Plasma Resources UK Ltd on 31 July 2013. Government received £88.6 million on completion together with deferred consideration as announced at the time of the sale.   Further information is already available on the gov.uk website at:   https://www.gov.uk/government/news/minister-welcomes-bain-capital-buying-majority-stake-in-pruk

Cancer: Drugs

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the administrative cost was of the Cancer Drugs Fund re-evaluation process in 2014-15.

George Freeman: NHS England has advised that this information is not available given the multi-disciplinary nature of the Cancer Drugs Fund re-evaluation process and the involvement of different parts of the National Health Service.

Pancreatic Cancer

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with NHS England on how the survival rates for pancreatic cancer are reflected in assessments of new treatments for that disease.

George Freeman: We have had no such discussions.   NHS England assesses new cancer drugs for inclusion on the national Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) list in accordance with its CDF Standard Operating Procedures, which are available at:   www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/pe/cdf/cdf-sop/

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department is taking in negotiations on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (a) to protect and (b) to ensure benefits to the UK entertainment industry.

Anna Soubry: The EU-US free trade deal, like other EU trade deals, excludes the audiovisual sector from commitments to open EU markets to foreign competition. The Government is working closely with the European Commission to ensure that the wider entertainment industry benefits from this deal. There are also potential benefits through increased access to the US market and reductions in red tape, particularly for smaller businesses and individual artists.

Technology

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what progress his Department has made on the eight great technologies programme.

Joseph Johnson: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 7 July 2015 to the hon. Member for Streatham (Chuka Umunna) to Question UIN 5250.

Gratuities

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will review his policy on employers withholding gratuity payments under a tronc.

Nick Boles: The Government launched a call for evidence on tipping practices on 30 August 2015. This call for evidence is to gather information on how tips, gratuities, cover and service charges are collected and current practice in relation to whether and how much employers deduct from their employees. This includes the use of tronc arrangements for the sharing and allocation of such payments. As a One Nation Government we want a fair deal on pay for working people and that includes taking action on tipping abuse. The Government will assess the evidence collected through this exercise, and propose any further action to ensure fair and transparent practice in relation to tips, gratuities, cover and service charges. Interested parties can participate in the call for evidence by responding with evidence before 10 November 2015. The call for evidence can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/tips-gratuities-cover-and-service-charges-call-for-evidence.

Infrastructure: Expenditure

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much of the Government's £1.1 billion capital infrastructure fund for 2015-16 will be spent during 2015-16.

Joseph Johnson: For the purpose of my response I have interpreted the £1.1bn capital infrastructure fund to be the long term Science Capital allocation announced at Spending Review 2013.The long term Science Capital allocation is allocated by financial year, and Government plans are to spend the full amount of £1.1bn in financial year 2015-16.

Motor Vehicles: Sales

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will conduct an assessment of the effect of online traders of second-hand cars on (a) the use of non-online second-hand car traders and (b) the second-hand car market.

Anna Soubry: My Department currently has no plans to conduct such an assessment.

Motor Vehicles: Sales

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many car trading businesses have closed down in each of the last five years.

Anna Soubry: The number of closures and total stock of businesses registered as being primarily involved in the sale of motor vehicles in the years 2009-2013 is listed in the table below. “Sale of motor vehicles” businesses and businesses closures 20092010201120122013Closures2,6402,2152,0452,3502,295Stock of active enterprises24,16523,63023,44523,52023,130Source: Business Demography (ONS) Note that this excludes business primarily involved in the maintenance and repair of motor vehicles, the sale of motor vehicles parts or accessories and the sale, maintenance and repair of motorcycles. Figures for 2009 – 2013 are available from the ONS Business Demography report and figures for 2014 will be published in November 2015.

Green Investment Bank

Matthew Pennycook: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the sale of the Government's majority stake in the Green Investment Bank on the level of investments made by that bank.

Anna Soubry: Attracting private sector owners in to the Green Investment Bank (GIB) will enable the company to grow its business, giving the GIB access to a much greater volume of capital than would be the case if GIB were to remain in 100% Government ownership, including allowing it to borrow.This will enable the company to have the greatest possible impact and should lead to more green projects getting financed more quickly than would otherwise be the case.

Small Businesses: Minimum Wage

Guto Bebb: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the increase of the minimum wage on small businesses which as a result of that increase will begin to operate above the VAT threshold.

Guto Bebb: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate his Department has made of the number of small businesses that will begin to operate over the VAT threshold as a result of complying with the new minimum wage.

Guto Bebb: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of the increase in the minimum wage on small businesses operating under the VAT threshold.

Nick Boles: The Department has not made an assessment of the interaction between VAT thresholds and the minimum wage.   Businesses are only required to register for VAT when the total value of their taxable supplies of goods and services in the preceding 12 months exceeds the current VAT registration threshold, which was increased to £82,000 with effect from 1 April 2015.

Small Businesses: Minimum Wage

Guto Bebb: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what representations have been made to his Department on the effect of the increase in the minimum wage on small businesses.

Guto Bebb: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what representations have been made to his Department on the effect of the increase in minimum wage on small businesses.

Nick Boles: This Department has regular and frequent discussions with businesses of all sizes and across all sectors on a wide range of issues including the National Minimum Wage (NMW). In addition, the Low Pay Commission (LPC) will continue to play a key role in recommending the NMW and National Living Wage (NLW) rates going forward. In their report to Government the LPC consults widely and considers and reflects the views and representations from a wide range of businesses and sectors of the economy.

Students: Loans

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, when and by what mechanism he plans to implement the Supreme Court decision in R (on the application of Tigere) v. Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills [2015] UK SC 57 given on 29 July 2015.

Joseph Johnson: The Department is giving full consideration to the Supreme Court’s ruling of 29 July 2015 (on the application of Tigere) (Appellant) v Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (respondent) 2015 UKSC57. We intend to consult shortly.

Graduates: Employment

Andrew Bridgen: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether his Department plans to publish university course employability league tables.

Joseph Johnson: My Department currently has no plans to publish employability league tables. Employability information is already published in a variety of ways and recent legislative changes will enable analysis of graduate earnings over a longer time period, thus providing a richer data set.The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) publish provider-level comparisons of employability outcomes in the Higher Education Performance Indicators (https://www.hesa.ac.uk/pis/emp). These are intended to be considered alongside the published benchmarks, which take account of the student entry profile and subject mix at each provider.Information on graduate employment and salaries is also included in the Key Information Set (https://unistats.direct.gov.uk) to help university applicants choose the most suitable course and higher education provider.Finally, employment outcomes are one of the measures we are considering for inclusion in the new Teaching Excellence Framework. We will consult on this later this Autumn.

Minimum Wage: Wales

Mr Mark Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the effect of changes to the minimum wage on the care sector in Wales.

Mr Mark Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent discussions he has had with the Welsh Assembly Government on the level of care home fees and planned changes to the national minimum wage.

Nick Boles: The Government carried out an analysis of the impact of the National Living Wage, using a similar approach to that published by the Office for Budget Responsibility, which considered the implications at the business, sector, regional and aggregate economy level. The Government will publish a full impact assessment for the introduction of the National Living Wage alongside the implementing regulations. These regulations will be debated in both Houses of Parliament in time to come into force on 1 April 2016.

Trade Unions: Human Rights

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment his Department has made of the compatibility of the Trade Union Bill with the European Convention of Human Rights and other international human rights treaties to which the UK is a signatory.

Nick Boles: The Government’s view is that the proposals set out in the Trade Union Bill comply with the EU Social Charter and International Labour Organisation conventions and that the proposed legislation complies with Convention rights. None of these changes will affect that compliance. The Government has assessed the compatibility of the Trade Union Bill with the European Convention on Human Rights and a memorandum has been published on July 2015 by the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills, containing input from the Cabinet Office.

Minimum Wage

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how he plans to respond to the concerns raised by the Low Pay Commission in the Report of March 2015, National Minimum Wage, Cm 9017, regarding problems meeting the existing National Minimum Wage in the social care sector.

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate his Department has made of the amount of additional funding required to implement the new national living wage in respect of the provision of care at home paid for from the public purse.

Nick Boles: We are working with the social care sector, including care providers from the voluntary sector, to ensure we understand fully how the introduction of the National Living Wage will affect them.

Apprentices: North West

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what total amount his Department has granted in the form of Apprenticeship Incentive Grants in (a) the North West, (b) Lancashire and (c) Pendle in each of the last three years.

Nick Boles: The Apprenticeship Grant for Employers 16-24 (AGE) provides additional funding for employers who would not otherwise be in a position to so, to recruit individuals aged 16 to 24 through the apprenticeship programme on to apprenticeship frameworks.Eligible employers are those with fewer than 50 employees, who are new to apprenticeships or have not enrolled an apprentice in the previous 12 months. Employers can be paid up to 5 grants in total. £1500 is paid to the employer for each young apprentice.For some areas the grant is now managed locally and eligibility criteria may be different to those set out here. This is now the case for Greater Manchester, Sheffield City Region and for West Yorkshire Combined Authority from August 2015. We do not hold data for grants distributed by combined authorities.The table below provides a breakdown of the monetary value of AGE 16-24 paid to employers for the period February 2012 to January 2015. This is for the North West (England), Lancashire, Pendle and England. The figures used are based on apprentices’ post codes.  Payments made (£000)Pipeline (£000)LocationAll ages (18-24)North West (England)£33,900£1,755Lancashire£6,435£351Pendle£540£30England£196,800£10,350 In addition to AGE, incentive payments are available to eligible employers who employ apprentices on one of the new apprenticeship standards. Data is not yet available on this funding trial.

Carers: Minimum Wage

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 13 July 2015 to Question 6582, how much of the £1,347,150 arrears of pay has been returned to the affected workers.

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 13 July 2015 to Question 6582, how much of the £158,239 in financial penalty was issued to each care provider; and how much each such care provider owed in arrears to its workers at the time of the issuing of the penalty.

Nick Boles: I refer the hon. Member to the answer provided by my hon. Friend the Treasury Minister (David Gauke) on 3 November 2014, Question 211605.Where consistent with our naming policy the Government has made public the names of employers who have failed to pay their employees the National Minimum Wage, including the value of the arrears. Details of the most recent naming and shaming announcement in July 2015 are available here - https://www.gov.uk/government/news/national-minimum-wage-offenders-named-and-shamed.

Students: Loans

Dr Sarah Wollaston: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he plans to take to ensure that students from lower socio-economic groups are not disincentivised from applying to university by fear of increased debt when student maintenance grants are replaced by new maintenance loan support.

Joseph Johnson: We are increasing the overall amount of cash in hand we provide students to support the cost of living to the highest ever amount. For new full-time students starting their courses on or after 1 August 2016, maintenance grants will be replaced by maintenance loans. Eligible students on low incomes will qualify for a maximum maintenance loan that is 10.3% higher than the maximum maintenance grant and loan support available in 2015/16. Higher education remains free at the point of entry, with students able to fund their studies through loans which they only repay when they are earning above £21,000.All institutions wishing to charge fees above the basic level must agree an Access Agreement with the independent Director of Fair Access. In July, the Director of Fair Access announced that he has approved 183 Access Agreements for 2016/17. Institutions expect to spend £745.5m on widening access in 2016/17, rising to £750.8m in 2019/20.

Medicine: Education

Dr Sarah Wollaston: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department is taking to encourage students from the lowest socio-economic groups to apply to study medicine.

Joseph Johnson: Latest data from UCAS shows that the application rate to higher education for 18 years olds from disadvantaged backgrounds is at a record level. All institutions wishing to charge fees above the basic level must agree an Access Agreement with the independent Director of Fair Access (DFA) on their measures to widen access to higher education. This Government has extended the term of office for the current Director.In his latest guidance to Institutions on how to produce access agreements the DFA has asked all Institutions with medical schools to consider the guidance on improving access to medical courses for those from lower socio-economic groups, developed by the Medical Schools Council and published in December 2014. The guidance from the medical schools council was developed in response to the Government call for more to be done to widen participation to medicine.

Medicine: Education

Dr Sarah Wollaston: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether the removal of the cap on student numbers applies to (a) medical students and (b) the 7.5 per cent cap on UK medical school places for international students.

Joseph Johnson: For many years, the Government has controlled undergraduate entrant numbers to medicine and dentistry courses at university. The Grant letter of 29 January 2015 to the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) said that, at this stage, the Government is retaining intake targets for undergraduates on medicine and dentistry courses, reflecting the high cost of this training to the public purse.

Students: Loans

Dr Sarah Wollaston: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what consultation his Department plans to undertake on proposals to replace student maintenance grants with new maintenance loan support.

Joseph Johnson: A formal consultation process is not normally carried out when annual changes to higher education student support are introduced.The Government expects to lay amendments to the Education (Student Support) Regulations 2011 before Parliament later this year which will bring changes to student support into effect for the 2016/17 academic year.

Students: Loans

Dr Sarah Wollaston: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what impact assessment he has conducted on the proposal to replace student maintenance grants with new maintenance loan support.

Joseph Johnson: The Government expects to lay amendments to the Education (Student Support) Regulations 2011 later this year and publish an Equality Analysis when the Regulations are laid. The Equality Analysis will include an assessment of potential impacts of the changes.

Living Wage

Dr Sarah Wollaston: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department has taken since the Summer Budget 2015 to assess and quantify the potential financial effect of the introduction of the National Living Wage on (a) publicly-funded social care and (b) other sectors.

Dr Sarah Wollaston: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department took before the Summer Budget 2015 to assess and quantify the potential financial effect of the introduction of the National Living Wage on (a) publicly-funded social care and (b) other sectors.

Nick Boles: The Government carried out an analysis of the impact of the National Living Wage, using a similar approach to that published by the Office for Budget Responsibility, which considered the implications at the business, sector and aggregate economy level. The Government will publish a full impact assessment for the introduction of the National Living Wage alongside the implementing regulations. These regulations will be debated in both Houses of Parliament in time to come into force on 1 April 2016.

Green Investment Bank

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will ensure that the Green Investment Bank continues to invest solely in the green economy after its privatisation.

Anna Soubry: Green investment is what the Green Investment Bank (GIB) does, using its specialist expertise in green sectors to identify good investment opportunities. The Government wants a privately owned GIB to continue this focus on green sectors - mobilising more private capital and further accelerating the transition to a green economy. Investors looking to buy a stake in the company will be doing so precisely because of its unique specialism in green investment.

Green Investment Bank

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether he plans for funding allocated for the Green Investment Bank but yet to be deployed to be ring-fenced for that Bank's use following privatisation.

Anna Soubry: To date the Green Investment Bank (GIB) has made commitments totalling £2.1billion. The Government will fund these and any further commitments GIB enters into during the current year to March 2016. The question of how much HMG funding is needed to fund GIB’s business activity in subsequent years is directly related to the question of whether we are able to bring private ownership into GIB and will be considered in that context as part of the Spending Review.

Green Investment Bank

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what  timetable he has set for the privatisation of the Green Investment Bank; and when he expects that process to be completed.

Anna Soubry: There is no timetable at this stage.

Green Investment Bank

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, which British investors his Department has identified as potential investors in the Green Investment Bank.

Anna Soubry: Our expectation is that interest in acquiring a stake in the Green Investment Bank will come from investors with an interest in green investments. The detail of continuing discussions and the identity of potential investors is commercially confidential.

British Business Bank: Preston

Mr Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much support the British Business Bank has provided to small and medium-sized enterprises in Preston since its creation.

Anna Soubry: The British Business Bank launched as a public limited Company in November 2014. Since then it has facilitated over £1.5m of finance for small and medium-sized enterprises in Preston.

Green Investment Bank: Lancashire

Mr Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, which projects in (a) Preston and (b) Lancashire have been funded by the Green Investment Bank in each year of that bank's operation.

Anna Soubry: On 27 March 2015 the Green Investment Bank and fund manager Equitix announced a commitment to fund the installation of energy efficient heating systems in sheltered housing complexes throughout England. The injection of capital will see new, highly efficient heating systems fitted in up to 28 developments across the country. They include: Bamber Bridge, Douglas Street and Percy Street (Preston), plus Matthias Court in Morecambe (Lancashire).

Science: Apprentices

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, which training providers have received funding from the Skills Funding Agency to deliver science-related apprenticeships frameworks; and how many such apprenticeships each such provider is delivering.

Nick Boles: A list of providers who received funding to deliver apprenticeships in the Science and Maths Sector Subject Area and apprenticeship participation on these frameworks (Academic Year 2013/14) has been provided in the attached document.



science and maths apprenticeships table
(Excel SpreadSheet, 42.5 KB)

Science: Business

Dr James Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what plans the Government has to support the development of (a) university spin-out businesses in the field of science and (b) small businesses in the field of science.

Joseph Johnson: Our productivity plan Fixing the Foundations identified the importance of collaboration between universities and industry and set a goal to increase the income they earn from working with business and others to £5 billion per annum by 2025.   The Dowling Review, to which we will respond around the time of the Spending Review, stressed the need to make it easier for business to find help and support from universities and Government.   R&D Tax Credits remain the largest source of Government support for business investment in R&D and make an important contribution to innovation in SMEs.

Minimum Wage: Underpayments

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many employers have been issued with a Notice of Underpayment of the national minimum wage by HM Revenue and Customs in cases where the investigation began on or after 1 October 2013; how many of those employers have successfully appealed against being named and shamed; and how many such employers have been named and shamed to date.

Nick Boles: The Government has named 285 employers to date, and there have been 16 successful appeals. HMRC has issued 791 Notices of Underpayment (NoU) since 1 October 2013.   The criteria on which appeals against naming are considered are that it would not be in the public interest, it would be a national security issue, or that the employer or their family would suffer personal harm.   Not all employers who are issued an NoU since 1 October 2013 will be named. Employers must have owed arrears of over £100. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) also only names employers who have paid back all of the arrears owed – if, following the issue of an NoU, the employer has yet to complete a schedule of payment of arrears to their workers, has challenged the NoU, or is being taken to court to recover arrears that remain unpaid, their details will not be passed to BIS for naming.

Minimum Wage

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many employers have taken advantage of the national minimum wage campaign announced on 30 July to self-report their non-compliance with the national minimum wage; how many workers have been identified as having been underpaid by these employers; and what the total sum is of underpayments involved.

Nick Boles: The National Minimum Wage campaign launched on 29 July 2015. Information on the number of employers, workers covered and total arrears identified through the campaign will be made available when details for each voluntary disclosure have been finalised.

Minimum Wage

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the level of expenditure was on enforcement of the national minimum wage by HM Revenue and Customs in (a) 2013-14 and (b) 2014-15; and what the final budget is for such expenditure in 2015-16.

Nick Boles: The Government’s budget for HMRC’s enforcement of the National Minimum Wage has been:   (a) 2013-14 – £8.3m (b) 2014-15 – £9.2m   The budget for 2015-16 was raised to £12.2m, and following an additional £1m announced in the Summer Budget, is now £13.2m.

Digital Technology

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 15 July 2015 to Question 6486, what the location is of each planned Next Generation Digital Economy Centre.

Joseph Johnson: The six Centres will be based at University College London, Swansea University, Newcastle University, University of Nottingham, University of York and University of Bath.

Small Businesses: Advisory Services

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, when he plans to publish the findings and results of the Growth Vouchers scheme.

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what plans he has for the future of the Growth Vouchers scheme.

Anna Soubry: The scheme is now closed for applications and the programme is in the evaluation stage. Two initial result reports have been published online at gov.uk and the next report will be published later this year.

Small Businesses: Advisory Services

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what threshold his Department set for the number of Growth Vouchers used to provide robust evidence-gathering under the programme.

Anna Soubry: We required at least 19,000 businesses to complete a business needs assessment (either online or face-to-face) to provide robust evidence gathering under the programme. 27,117 businesses completed this assessment. There was no threshold set for the number of vouchers used.

Comet Group

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he plans to take in response to the completion of the Insolvency Service's review into the collapse of Comet.

Anna Soubry: The Insolvency Service has concluded its confidential fact-finding inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the insolvency of Comet Group Ltd. Publication of the evidence gathered during the inquiry into the company is prohibited by law, and as the report of the inquiry contains such evidence it also cannot be published. However, I can confirm that, after careful consideration of the facts obtained in this investigation, it has been decided that there is insufficient evidence to warrant enforcement action.

Small Businesses: Advisory Services

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what plans he has for funds allocated under the Growth Vouchers scheme have not been claimed.

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how he plans to spend the funds which were allocated but unused as part of the Growth Vouchers scheme.

Anna Soubry: All unused funds have been redistributed across the department's other programmes to support business start-up and growth.

Small Businesses: Advisory Services

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many Growth Vouchers redeemed after 31 March 2015 are undergoing assessment.

Anna Soubry: As of 8 September, 16 growth voucher claims are being assessed.

Small Businesses: Advisory Services

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what provision he made for Growth Vouchers to be redeemed after the deadline for their use passed.

Anna Soubry: Provision was made for businesses to redeem their voucher after the expiry date if the delay was beyond their control.

Science and Innovation Network

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, when the Science and Innovation Network 2014 Annual Report will be published.

Joseph Johnson: The latest Science and Innovation Network report was published in March 2015. The publication is at www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/417600/bis-15-210-science-Innovation-network-report.pdf

Small Businesses: Advisory Services

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to the Answer of 16 March 2015 to Question 227103, how many businesses (a) applied for and (b) were granted Growth Vouchers to date.

Anna Soubry: Up until the programme closed for applications, 30,020 businesses applied for a growth voucher. Of those that applied, 27,117 went on to complete a face-to-face or online business assessment and of those, 19,713 were allocated a growth voucher.

Companies: Takeovers

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what work his Department is undertaking to review and evaluate rules on company takeovers.

Anna Soubry: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills is currently neither reviewing nor evaluating rules on company takeovers.

Higher Education: Admissions

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department is taking to encourage students from low-income backgrounds to access higher education; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what funding his Department has allocated to encourage students from low-income backgrounds to access higher education in each of the next five years.

Joseph Johnson: More young people from disadvantaged backgrounds are applying to higher education than ever before. 18 year olds from the most disadvantaged areas were 72% more likely to apply to higher education in 2015 than in 2006.Since 2012, institutions have been required to take more responsibility for widening participation. Institutions wishing to charge fees above the basic rate must have Access Agreements agreed by independent Director of Fair Access. The amounts institutions expect to spend on widening access through these agreements are as follows:Year2015/162016/172017/182018/192019/20Amount£m718.8745.4741.6746.2750.8 In addition, the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) allocates funding to institutions to help with the additional costs of recruiting and supporting students from disadvantaged backgrounds through the Student Opportunity Allocation. In 2015/16, HEFCE is allocating £364.2m to institutions through the Allocation. In recent grant letters, Ministers have asked HEFCE to prioritise widening participation in their decisions about allocating funding from their block grant.Through the Student Opportunity Allocation, the Government has provided £22 million seed-corn funding for the establishment of national networks of collaborative outreach, across 2014-15 and 2015-16. The networks bring together universities to provide a single point of contact for schools and colleges to find out about outreach opportunities for their students and to access information about higher education. There are 35 local and three national networks involving 200 universities and further education colleges. They are reaching 4,300 secondary schools and colleges. From 2016 onwards, funding will be provided by universities themselves.

Pregnant Women: Discrimination

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many potential tribunal claims for pregnancy-related detriment or dismissal were notified to Acas under the early conciliation scheme in 2014-15; and how many of those claims (i) were settled by conciliation by Acas, (ii) progressed to a tribunal claim and (iii) were not settled by conciliation by Acas but did not progress to a tribunal case.

Nick Boles: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 10 September 2015.The correct answer should have been:

This information is not available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. The total number of potential tribunal claims for pregnancy-related detriment or dismissal notified to Acas under the early conciliation scheme by individuals in 2014-15 was 1,851. Of these:   · 308 were settled by Acas at early conciliation stage and recorded on a COT3 settlement document; · 545 progressed to a tribunal claim being taken, 264 of which were subsequently settled on an Acas COT3 following further conciliation; · 998 were not settled through Acas, but did not progress to a tribunal case.   An additional 18 notifications were made by employers. Seventeen of these were settled by Acas and the other was neither settled nor progressed to a tribunal.   The Government does not have data on the number of private settlements which settled claims before reaching a tribunal. The independently commissioned survey of early conciliation (a sample across all jurisdictions) found that 61 per cent of claimants (and their representatives) who did not settle but decided not to submit a tribunal claim reported that Acas was a factor in their decision. Please note: (i) The jurisdictional provided to Acas is only indicative based on the information given by the prospective claimant; (ii) Counted individually there were a total of 1,882 notifications which means that a small number of claimants notified against more than one respondent.

Joseph Johnson: This information is not available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. The total number of potential tribunal claims for pregnancy-related detriment or dismissal notified to Acas under the early conciliation scheme by individuals in 2014-15 was 1,851. Of these:   · 308 were settled by Acas at early conciliation stage and recorded on a COT3 settlement document; · 545 progressed to a tribunal claim being taken, 264 of which were subsequently settled on an Acas COT3 following further conciliation; · 998 were not settled through Acas, but did not progress to a tribunal case.   An additional 18 notifications were made by employers. Seventeen of these were settled by Acas and the other was neither settled nor progressed to a tribunal.   The Government does not have data on the number of private settlements which settled claims before reaching a tribunal. The independently commissioned survey of early conciliation (a sample across all jurisdictions) found that 61 per cent of claimants (and their representatives) who did not settle but decided not to submit a tribunal claim reported that Acas was a factor in their decision. Please note: (i) The jurisdictional provided to Acas is only indicative based on the information given by the prospective claimant; (ii) Counted individually there were a total of 1,882 notifications which means that a small number of claimants notified against more than one respondent.

Green Investment Bank

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether the Green Investment Bank will invest in projects (a) according to its existing risk profile and sectoral focus and (b) exclusively in the UK economy during the period in which the Government is discussing privatisation of the Bank with private investors.

Anna Soubry: UK Green Investment Bank plc continues to operate in accordance with its existing remit, applying its rigorous investment criteria in pursuing business opportunities within the United Kingdom across the green sectors in which it is currently active.

Post Codes: Databases

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether his Department, its agencies or Ofcom has made an assessment of (a) the appropriateness of the role of local authorities in the creation of addresses for the Postcode Address File and (b) whether that role constitutes a subsidy to Royal Mail.

Nick Boles: As set out in the Code of Practice for the Postcode Address File (PAF®), which was agreed between Royal Mail and the Postal Regulator in May 2010, there is a process in place for the creation of addresses which aims to ensure that every business and house in the UK falling under the Royal Mail’s Universal Service Obligation, has a postal address to enable the delivery of items quickly and accurately.   Local Authorities have the responsibility of naming roads and the postal address reflects the details provided by the Local Authorities. Royal Mail applies the postcode to these details which forms the basis of the Royal Mail distribution network. Royal Mail also pays Local Authorities £1 per new address listed in the PAF.   In 2015, the public sector licence agreement was introduced which gives Local Authorities and Central Government, Emergency Services and Health, free access to the PAF.   No assessment has been made of the agreed arrangements in place for the creation of addresses for the PAF.

Arms Trade: Saudi Arabia

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many export licences have been issued for export defence material to Saudi Arabia since April 2010; and for what purpose each such licence was so issued.

Anna Soubry: The Government publishes comprehensive information about export licences granted and refused on gov.uk. The most recently published information covers the period until 31 March 2015.   Since April 2010 782 licences have been granted for export of military goods and technology to Saudi Arabia. The end-use of each such licence could only be provided at disproportionate cost.   All export licences are issued in strict accordance with the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria.

Exports: Russia

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the effect on UK exporters of recently imposed Russian restrictions on the sale of food and cleaning products; and if he will make a statement.

Anna Soubry: In 2014, following restrictions imposed by Russia, total food, feed and drink exports to Russia totalled £93.7million, a 29.3 per cent drop compared to 2013.   Exports to Russia in these sectors accounted for around one per cent of the UK’s total global exports in these sectors, which amounted to £18.8 billion in 2014. We estimate that the total number of exports to Russia in these sectors had fallen by £39 million.   The ban on cleaning products was announced on 25 August 2015. It is too early to see any impact on UK exporters, but we will continue to monitor the situation.

Small Businesses: Government Assistance

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to the comments made by a spokesperson for his Department as reported in The Guardian on 16 August 2015, when the final figure on the number of Growth Vouchers issued will be available.

Anna Soubry: The final figure on the number of Growth Vouchers issued is available now. This was provided in the response to Written Question UIN 9284. The final figure is 19,713.

BBC: Met Office

Mr Ben Bradshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the (a) cost and (b) value for money implications to the Met Office of the BBC no longer using the Met Office for weather services.

Joseph Johnson: The financial implications are expected to minimal

Apprentices: STEM Subjects

Imran Hussain: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment his Department has made of the level of take-up of mathematics and science apprenticeships so far in 2015.

Nick Boles: Information on the number of apprenticeships starts in the Science and Maths Sector Subject Area is published in the FE data library (first link) as a supplementary table (second link) to a Statistical First Release (SFR):   https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/fe-data-library-apprenticeships   https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/438150/apprenticeships-starts-by-geography-learner-demographics-and-sector-subject-area.xls

Trade Agreements: Industrial Relations

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he has taken in negotiations of the Trade in Services Agreement to ensure that workers' rights are protected.

Anna Soubry: The Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA) does not directly cover the laws which underpin workers’ rights in its agreement. The UK Government work closely with the Commission and the International Labour Organisation to ensure that fundamental workers' rights are respected in the context of trade and economic expansion.

Trade Agreements

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether he expects the Trade in Services Agreement to entail amendments to (a) employment law, (b) trade union law and (c) company law in the UK.

Anna Soubry: The Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA) does not directly cover employment, trade union or company law and no amendments are expected in these areas.

Trade Agreements: Industrial Relations

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what his policy is on the inclusion of (a) employment law and (b) trades union rights in the Trade in Services Agreement.

Anna Soubry: Employment law and trade union rights are not directly included within the TiSA negotiation. The UK government remains strongly committed to the fundamental principles and basic rights for workers arising from the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

Trade Agreements: Industrial Relations

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment has been made of the potential effect that the Trade in Services Agreement will have on (a) employment law and (b) trade union rights; and if he will make a statement.

Anna Soubry: The Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA) will not directly cover employment laws or trade union rights. The UK Government works closely with the Commission and the International Labour Organisation to ensure that employment law is respected in the context of trade and economic expansion.

Ministry of Defence

Defence: Public Consultation

Mr Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, in what ways the public can submit comments on the (a) National Security Strategy and (b) Strategic Defence and Security Review.

Michael Fallon: We have in place a broad programme of engagement with a range of stakeholders, including Parliament, academics, industry, think tanks, non-governmental organisations and members of the public. Members of the public can contribute thoughts and comments on both the National Security Strategy and the Strategic Defence and Security Review via a dedicated page on the gov.uk website at the following link.www.gov.uk/government/news/strategic-defence-and-security-review-public-engagement

Armed Forces: Cadets

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many state school Combined Cadet Forces have been set up under the Cadet Expansion Programme in each year since 2012; and how many such forces are (a) new units and (b) partnerships with existing units.

Mr Julian Brazier: The number of state school cadet units set up under the Cadet Expansion Programme (CEP) in each year since 2012, either as new stand-alone units, or in partnership with existing units is as follows: YearNew UnitsPartnership unitsTotal20126062013851320141713302015262551 Although most of the new cadet units in schools set up under the CEP are Combined Cadet Force (CCF) units, some are community cadet units (Army Cadet Force, Sea Cadet Corps, Air Training Corps) located in schools.

Military Bases: Closures

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which Ministry of Defence training camps or bases have closed in the last five years; how many jobs were lost through each such closure; which company provided (a) training and (b) catering at each such base; and if he will make a statement.

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) Reservists and (b) Regular personnel received training at each of his Department's UK training bases or camps in each year since 2005; and if he will make a statement.

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which Ministry of Defence training camps or bases in the UK provided training for (a) army, (b) Royal Navy, (c) RAF Reservists and (d) Regulars in each year since 2005; and if he will make a statement.

Penny Mordaunt: The Ministry of Defence holds the following information on Phase 1 (basic) training establishments. However, further information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.   Naval Service Regular and Reserve Personnel (Combined) Taking Up Phase 1 Training, by Financial Year  2007-082008-92009-102010-112011-122012-132013-142014-15Britannia Royal Naval College (Dartmouth)370340420340290280320370HMS Raleigh (Torpoint)2,4202,6402,4601,0701,2201,4001,9201,880Commando Training Centre Royal Marines (CTCRM, Lympstone)1,1401,3201,3201,2107501,1201,020760Royal Marines School of Music (RMSM, HMNB Portsmouth)3030303030203020 Note: CTCRM and RMSM figures combine Phase 1 and Phase 2 trainees. All figures have been rounded.  Army Regular Phase 1 training establishments: Infantry Training Centre (Catterick) – provides the Combat Infantryman’s Course which is a combined Phase 1 and Phase 2 course. Army Training Centre (Pirbright) (incorporating 1 Army Training Regiment (ATR) and 2 ATR) Army Training Regiment (Winchester) Army Foundation College (Harrogate) Royal Military Academy (Sandhurst) – officer training   Reserve (only) Phase 1 training establishments: Army Training Regiment (Grantham)Army Training Unit (London)Army Training Unit (Wessex)Army Training Unit (North East)Army Training Unit (North West)Army Training Unit (West Midlands)Army Training Unit (Wales)Army Training Unit (Scotland)Army Training Unit (NI)D Company – 2 ATR (Pirbright) Note: The only Phase 1 establishment closure during the period in question was Army Training Regiment (Bassingbourn) in 2012. Training was delivered in-house.  Royal Air Force Regular Personnel (only) Taking Up Phase 1 Training, by Financial Year2010-111,4102011-121,3802012-131,3002013-141,6602014-151,860 Note: All figures have been rounded and relate to Phase 1 Training undertaken at either RAF Cranwell, RAF Halton or RAF Honington. Figures exclude personnel who transferred from another Service.

Armed Forces Compensation Scheme

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department has paid under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme since 2005; how many payments from that fund have been of £570,000; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many awards of £570,000 his Department paid out under their Armed Forces Compensation Scheme since it was established.

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the amount paid out in awards from the the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme is since it was established in April 2005.

Mark Lancaster: Since 2005, some £521 million has been paid under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme; 80 lump sum payments have been of £570,000.

Middle East: Armed Conflict

Imran Hussain: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many of the missions flown by the RAF in Iraq and Syria to date have been (a) combat missions where weapons have not been fired, (b) combat missions where weapons have been fired, (c) for reconnaissance, (d) for aid on supply drops and (e) for other reasons.

Penny Mordaunt: RAF Aircraft have been operating in support of coalition operations to degrade and defeat ISIL since August 2014. In that time 1,315 Tornado GR4 and Reaper Remotely Pilot Air System (RPAS) missions have been flown. Of these, 247 involved weapons releases. All of the Reaper RPAS missions will have included some element of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR). On all missions Tornado GR4s are flown fitted for a dual strike and ISR role, however, a specialist ISR pod was fitted on 124 missions. As of the 6 September 2015, other UK air assets have conducted 485 dedicated ISR missions. From the outset, the UK has also committed various RAF aircraft to Coalition operations in an enabling role, including air-to-air refuelling, command and control and logistic transport. The number of such aircraft has fluctuated considerably throughout the operation and they conduct missions on an almost daily basis. The Department of International Development is responsible for the provision of humanitarian aid to Iraq and has so far delivered £39.5 million of aid since the start of the conflict. The RAF has not participated in humanitarian aid drops since the summer of 2014 when they conducted seven air drops to the besieged Yazidi community on Mount Sinjar and a further two air drops to trapped groups in Amerli, delivering nearly 100 tonnes of life-saving humanitarian supplies.

Armed Forces: Females

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to increase the number of women in high-ranking positions in the armed forces.

Penny Mordaunt: The steps we are taking include targeted recruitment campaigns, changing the culture of the Service environment, providing opportunities for flexible employment, reviewing the ban on women serving in ground close combat roles and improving equality and diversity training. The Army are also reviewing all job specifications which state experience in a Front Line command post is an essential requirement and removing this if appropriate to do so.

Army Reserve

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will place in the Library a copy of the Army Reserve's Order of Battle.

Mr Julian Brazier: A copy of the Army Reserve Order of Battle has been placed in the Library of the House and is attached.



9578 - Army Reserve Order of Battle
(PDF Document, 28.05 KB)

Defence: China

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make an estimate of Chinese defence expenditure on a Purchasing Power Parity basis; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Philip Dunne: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) annually publishes estimates of defence spending by the Top 15 World-wide military spenders. The MOD's Annual Statistical Series 1 Finance Bulletin 1.02 on International Defence published on 14 August 2014, (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/international-defence-expenditure-2014--2) estimates China's Defence Expenditure in 2013 to be US$275 billion based on Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) rates. This estimate is calculated from defence expenditure data published by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) data and PPP rates published by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).On 8 October 2015 the MOD will publish updated estimates covering 2014, which will be based on the latest available SIPRI data.

Navy

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will list by rank and number of personnel in (a) the Surface Fleet, (b) the Royal Marines, (c) the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, (d) the Submarine Service and (e) the Fleet Air Arm.

Mark Lancaster: The information requested is below. Table 1: Royal MarinesPaid RankRoyal MarinesGeneral-Lieutenant General3Major General2Brigadier14Colonel30Lieutenant Colonel130Major220Captain260Lieutenant80Warrant Officer Class 1100Warrant Officer Class 2240Colour Sergeant420Sergeant650Corporal1,160Lance Corporal720Marine2,980Total7,000   Royal Marine trained personnel strength as at 1 August 2015. Table 2: Royal NavyPaid RankFleet Air ArmGeneral ServiceSubmarinersAdmiral1--Vice Admiral-52Rear Admiral5168Commodore144115Captain4016050Commander180540160Lieutenant Commander3901,050240Lieutenant5101,170380Sub Lieutenant209010Warrant Officer 1110520120Warrant Officer 21060140Chief Petty Officer5201,450470Petty Officer7401,660430Leading Hand9402,760700Able Rate1,3304,2801,290Total4,82013,8004,020  The Royal Navy trained personnel strength as at 1 August 2015. Table 3: Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA)Paid RankRFACommodore2Captain40Chief Officer70First Officer90Second Officer150Third Officer250Cadet, Rating to Officer (RTO)90Chief Petty Officer90Petty Officer170Leading Hand200Able Seaman610Trainee150Total1,910 The Royal Fleet Auxiliary strength as at 1 July 2015. The figures include Cadets and Trainees but exclude Apprentices. Notes: 1. Source: Defence Statistics (Navy) 2. All totals are rounded in accordance with the Defence Statistics rounding policy; therefore totals may not equal the sum of their parts. All numbers are rounded to the nearest 10 with numbers ending in 5 rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to avoid bias. Strengths for Senior Officers have been left unrounded as statistics for these personnel are considered non-sensitive and are in the public domain.- Denotes zero.

Counter-terrorism

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the Government has compiled a list of people for targeted killing outside Iraq.

Michael Fallon: The Prime Minister and I are ready to take military action as a last resort to prevent an imminent terrorist attack on the UK.

Ministry of Defence: Hunting

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 13 July 2015 to Question 5988, whether his Department operates a licensing system for trial hunting on its land.

Mark Lancaster: Yes.

Ministry of Defence: Hunting

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 13 July 2015 to Question 5988, whether his Department permits hunting exempt under Schedule 1 of the Hunting Act 2004 on its land.

Mark Lancaster: All forms of exempt hunting, in line with the Hunting Act, are permissible on Ministry of Defence land, subject to it being compatible with the Defence use, that the Department is satisfied the proposed activity constitutes exempt hunting and that there is a requirement for it.

Armed Forces Compensation Scheme: Complaints

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many complaints his Department has received from ex-service personnel about the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme.

Mark Lancaster: The number of complaints received from ex-Service personnel about the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme could be provided only at disproportionate cost as each complaint would need to be examined to determine if the individual was ex-Service, and their complaint was about the Scheme rather than their personal award.I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 11 September 2015 to Question 9008 to the hon. Member for Bridgend (Madeleine Moon). Between 6 April 2005, and 31 March 2015, (the latest data currently available) 1,345 former Service personnel registered an additional or exceptional claim, reconsideration or appeal following an initial compensation award under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme.In addition between 1 April 2014 and 31 March 2015, the Veterans UK customer service team received a total of 41 complaints relating to the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme.From 1 April 2010 the (earliest date data is available) to 31 March 2015, I received a total of 158 letters from MPs on behalf of their constituents, for which the subject matter was the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme. However, this correspondence cannot be broken down in to Serving or ex-Serving personnel, nor can it be broken down by correspondence type such as complaint, claim or enquiry.

Ministry of Defence: Hunting

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 13 July 2015 to Question 5988, whether any live quarry has been killed during a trail hunt on his Department's land.

Mark Lancaster: Yes.

Department for Communities and Local Government

Housing: Sustainable development

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to promote sustainable home design using sustainable materials.

Brandon Lewis: In its response of March 2014 to the Environmental Select Committee's Report: Code for Sustainable Homes and the Housing Standards Review, the Government set out that it would consider work being undertaken by the European Commission to establish common standards for the sustainability of construction before deciding on any next steps in developing sustainability standards in England. The Commission's work is ongoing and further information can be found below: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/eussd/buildings.htm

Living Wage

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential effects of the National Living Wage on (a) local authority budgets and (b) home care services delivered by local authorities through private sector contracts.

Mr Marcus Jones: The Office of Budget Responsibility estimated that wage costs across the whole UK economy would increase by £4 billion by 2020 as a result of the implementation of the National Living Wage, assuming no changes to employment or hours worked. Some of those costs will be faced by the public sector, including local government. The impact on local government of the introduction of the National Living Wage will be considered as part of the Spending Review process.

Social Rented Housing

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether he plans for the one per cent reduction in social housing rents announced in the Summer Budget 2015 to apply to (a) supported accommodation claimed as specified accommodation under the Housing Benefit and Universal Credit (Supported Accommodation) (Amendment) Regulations 2014 and (b) other hostel accommodation for the single homeless.

Mr Marcus Jones: In order to reduce the Housing Benefit bill, the Government has taken the decision to bring rent increases within the social sector back into line with the private rented sector. But we acknowledge that there may be some circumstances where the rent reduction policy should not apply. In particular, the types of accommodation that are current excepted under the Rent Standard such as specialised supported accommodation are likely to remain excepted. We are considering whether the existing definition is appropriate in light of the revised policy and will be setting out the details in legislation.

Fire Services

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the average response time for first appliance attendance by each UK fire and rescue service brigade was in the last 12 months.

Mr Mark Francois: The Department publishes response time information for English fire and rescue services only. The average response time to fires for each fire and rescue service are published annually in the following Statistical Release. The most recent data available is for 2013/14 and Tables 3a onwards show average response times to different types of fire incident: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fire-incidents-response-times-england-2013-to-2014 Note: that this measure records response times as the period between the time of call to the arrival at the scene of the first vehicle. This may differ from some individual services’ own published measures and targets.

Housing Starts: Affordable Housing

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of the increase in affordable home starts between 2009-10 and 2013-14 was attributable to changing the definition of affordable from 70 to 80 per cent of local private rents.

Brandon Lewis: Affordable rents were never defined as 70% of the local market rent. Affordable Rents were introduced in 2010, and with rents to be set at any level, up to 80 per cent, of market rents. Rent setting has to take into consideration local needs and the local market context. In London the average Affordable Rent is around 65 per cent of market rents. The Affordable Rent model allows us to reduce the level of grant required for each home from over £66,000 to an average of £24,500 per home. This enables us to deliver more homes for every pound of Government investment, so more people in housing need can have access to a good quality home with at a sub-market rent. Since April 2010, we have delivered 260,000 new affordable homes. The National Audit Office report on the Financial viability of the social housing sector concluded that the Affordable Rent model maximised benefits and the number of homes that could be delivered within the available grant funding.

Charities: Non-Domestic Rates

James Cartlidge: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the amount of revenue to the Exchequer foregone due to partial exemptions from business rates for charity shops in each of the last five years.

Mr Marcus Jones: The total amount of relief from business rates granted to charities (including charity shops) in England in each of the last five years is as follows: 2009-10 - £955 million 2010-11 - £1,009 million 2011-12 - £1,171 million 2012-13 - £1,332 million 2013-14 - £1,439 million The figures include both mandatory charity relief, which local authorities must grant, and discretionary charity relief, which is granted at an authorities’ discretion. The figures include both relief granted in respect of the current year and also adjustments made in respect of previous years.

Enterprise Zones: Rural Areas

James Cartlidge: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what criteria and conditions will need to be fulfilled for rural areas to be successful in applying for Enterprise Zone status; and if he will make a statement.

James Wharton: In this round, we welcome proposals which have been clearly identified as the Local Enterprise Partnership’s top local growth priority, and/or involve smaller towns, districts and rural areas. The Rural Productivity Plan, launched on 20 August by the my rt. hon. Friends, the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, also encourages such towns, districts and rural areas to work with Local Enterprise Partnerships to apply for an Enterprise Zone in their area. The criteria and conditions for all bids, including those in rural areas, is that they have the support of the Local Enterprise Partnership and offer good value for money to the taxpayer. Full requirements have been published on the Government’s website.

Regional Planning and Development: Greater Manchester

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Summer Budget 2015, Paragraph 1.284, whether the new planning powers of the Greater Manchester city region will include the ability to depart from the National Planning Policy Framework.

Brandon Lewis: The National Planning Policy Framework and planning guidance expect local authorities to meet the development needs of their area. Under the terms of the Greater Manchester Agreement, the directly elected Mayor will have powers to produce a statutory spatial framework covering all 10 unitary authorities. This framework will need to be consistent with the National Planning Policy Framework.

Greater Manchester Land Commission

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the powers and responsibilities of the Greater Manchester Land Commission will be; and if he will make a statement.

Brandon Lewis: In the July Budget the Government announced that a Greater Manchester Land Commission would be created to oversee the efficient utilisation of the public sector estate in Manchester. It will create a comprehensive database of all public sector land, identifying barriers to its disposal, and developing solutions to address those barriers to help Greater Manchester meet its goal to deliver more than 10,000 new homes per annum. The Land Commission will be jointly chaired by the Mayor and Housing Minister, and will include Ministers from key land-owning Departments. We will work to create the Commission in collaboration with the Greater Manchester Combined Authority.

Regional Planning and Development: Greater Manchester

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Summer Budget 2015, Paragraph 1.284, whether the Greater Manchester city region will be able to set its own guidance on viability of new developments.

Brandon Lewis: The National Planning Policy Framework, informed by Planning Guidance, sets out the policy principles relating to viability assessment. However, the Government does not believe that imposition of a single viability model would be appropriate, which gives local authorities the freedom to set their own approach to assessing viability of new developments.

Special Protection Areas: Ashdown Forest

Nusrat Ghani: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will take steps to preserve the Special Protection Area and the Special Area of Conservation that currently extend beyond the immediate boundaries of Ashdown Forest.

James Wharton: The Ashdown Forest Special Area of Conservation and Special Protection Area are designated through the EU Habitats and Wild Birds Directives respectively. Both Directives are transposed into domestic law by the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2010. These regulations offer a high level of protection to these sites which a competent authority must have regard to in undertaking their functions. The National Planning Policy Framework also provides strong policy protection for these areas, and the presumption in favour of sustainable development does not apply where development requiring appropriate assessment under the Regulations is being considered, planned or determined. It is not, therefore, considered necessary to provide further protection in national planning policy for Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas.

Housing Market

Iain Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of new homes constructed in (a) England and (b) Milton Keynes Council area have been (i) purchased by owner-occupiers, (ii) purchased by buy-to-let investors and (iii) shared ownership or shared equity purchases.

Brandon Lewis: Statistics on house building completions by tenure in England and each local authority district, including Milton Keynes are published in the Department's live tables 253 (annual) and 253a (quarterly), which are available at the following link. http://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-house-building Information on all new homes purchased by owner-occupiers or buy-to-let investors are not available centrally. Statistics on new homes purchased by owner-occupiers under the Help to Buy: Equity Loan scheme and Help to Buy: NewBuy schemes are published and available at the following link. https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/help-to-buy-equity-loan-and-newbuy-statistics Annual statistics on additional affordable home ownership provided by type of scheme in England and for 2013/14 in each local authority district are published in the Department’s Live Tables 1000 and 1011, which are available at the following link. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-affordable-housing-supply

Social Rented Housing: Rents

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to Clauses 19 to 22 of the draft Welfare Reform and Work Bill, whether the compulsory one per cent annual reduction of rents in social housing will apply to housing association tenants on affordable rents.

Brandon Lewis: Clause 19 of the draft Welfare Reform and Work Bill requires registered providers of social housing in England to reduce the rents payable by their individual tenants by 1% per annum for four years from 1 April 2016. The reductions will apply to rented social housing, including Affordable Rent properties. Exceptions are set out in clause 20 and in subsequent regulations. We intend to clarify how rents for new tenancies starting after 1 April 2016 will be set, and how the reductions will apply to these tenancies.

Councillors

Stephen McPartland: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to reduce the cost to the public purse of local government elected representatives.

Mr Marcus Jones: Provisions we are seeking in the Cities and Local Government Devolution Bill, if enacted, will allow the processes for effecting local governance changes to be streamlined where councils agree. This includes changes involving reductions in the number of councillors, hence reducing the cost to the public purse of local government representatives.

Councillors

Stephen McPartland: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the annual cost of remuneration, payments and expenses for local government elected representatives.

Mr Marcus Jones: It is for each council to decide the scheme of allowances for its members, which is legally required to be published. We make no estimate of the annual cost of these allowances or of other expenses for local government elected representatives. A council is accountable to its local electorate for its decisions on these matters, and needs to ensure all allowances and expenses are wholly justifiable and represent value for money for local taxpayers.

Travellers: Caravan Sites

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made since May 2015 of the potential merits of granting new powers to police forces and local authorities to help them recover costs associated with Traveller incursions on public and private land.

Brandon Lewis: Local authorities and the police have a range of strong powers that enable them to take action against unauthorised encampments and development. A Summary of those powers were sent to all Council Leaders, Police and Crime Commissioners and Chief Police Constables in March.https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/418139/150326_Dealing_with_illegal_and_unauthorised_encampments_-_final.pdfTravellers can be ordered by a Court to pay the legal costs of and occasioned by enforcement action. All landowners can also use their common law rights to seek damages against travellers for trespass on their land. Ordering legal costs or damages is at the discretion of the Court.If the Local Planning Authority takes direct action to ensure compliance with an enforcement notice under s178 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, they can recover their reasonable expenses from the land owner.We are open to suggestions for how enforcement could be strengthened and keep this issue under review.

Travellers: Caravan Sites

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made since May 2015 of the potential merits of granting new powers to police forces and local authorities to tackle Traveller incursions on public and private land.

Brandon Lewis: Local authorities and the police have a range of strong powers that enable them to take action against unauthorised encampments and development. A summary of those powers were sent to all Council Leaders, Police and Crime Commissioners and Chief Police Constables in March.https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/418139/150326_Dealing_with_illegal_and_unauthorised_encampments_-_final.pdf  We are open to suggestions for how enforcement could be strengthened and keep this issue under review.

Planning Permission: Restaurants

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will take steps to amend planning legislation to remove the right of appeal for applicants to open fast food take-away restaurants located in close proximity to schools which have been rejected by a planning committee.

Brandon Lewis: We believe that any applicant who has been refused permission to develop their own land in a way that they would wish should have the option of an impartial appeal. We have no plans to remove existing rights of appeal.

Cremation: West Yorkshire

Imran Hussain: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the annual budget for crematoriums is in (a) Bradford, (b) Leeds and (c) Huddersfield.

Mr Marcus Jones: Statistics on budgeted expenditure for ‘Cemeteries, Cremation and Mortuary Services’ in each local authority are published online in the Revenue Account Budget, which are available for 2015-16 at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/local-authority-revenue-expenditure-and-financing-england-2015-to-2016-individual-local-authority-data Note that this is the level of budgeted expenditure within an area and may not represent the final level of expenditure paid out by the local authority for this area. Huddersfield data is incorporated within the Kirklees local authority’s data. Latest revenue outturn for cultural, environmental, regulatory and planning services (RO5) 2013-14 at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/local-authority-revenue-expenditure-and-financing-england-2013-to-2014-individual-local-authority-data-outturn

Cemeteries: Vandalism

Mr Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many graves in each cemetery owned by unitary and district councils in (a) Preston, (b) Lancashire and (c) the remainder of the North West of England were vandalised in 2014.

Mr Marcus Jones: My Department does not hold any information about this.

Housing Ombudsman Service

David Mackintosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, by what mechanism the Housing Ombudsman is accountable to his Department.

Brandon Lewis: Decisions taken by the Housing Ombudsman are independent and as such, the Housing Ombudsman is not accountable to the Department for its decisions.The Housing Ombudsman is an arms length body of the Department and the Secretary of State is responsible for approving its annual business plan and performance targets. Performance against these targets is monitored through regular contact with the Department, including through meetings with senior departmental officials.The Secretary of State is responsible for approving the Housing Ombudsman Scheme – which defines the Ombudsman’s duties but also stresses the independence in its decision making.

Enterprise Zones: Urban Areas

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will prioritise town and city centres in the next wave of Enterprise Zones.

James Wharton: All applications for Enterprise Zones will be considered including large towns and city centres.

Local Plans

Mims Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of land is covered by a local plan.

Brandon Lewis: 216 of 336 local planning authorities (64%) have adopted and 276 (82%) published a Local Plan. Approximately 59% of England’s land area is covered by adopted Local Plans and 82% covered by published plans. In the Productivity Plan published on 10 July the Government reiterated the importance of a plan-led system and set out the clear expectation that all areas should produce a Local Plan by early 2017.

Neighbourhood Development Plans

Mims Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of land is covered by a neighbourhood plan.

Brandon Lewis: My Department does not collect information on the proportion of land covered by neighbourhood plans. There are now almost 1,500 designated neighbourhood planning areas. 222 local planning authorities in England (66% of the total) include at least one designated neighbourhood planning area. We estimate that over 8 million people live within a neighbourhood area, representing around 15% of the population in England.

Local Plans

Mims Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many local councils have local plans in place.

Brandon Lewis: 216 of 336 local planning authorities (64%) have adopted and 276 (82%) published a Local Plan. In its Productivity Plan published on 10 July the Government reiterated the importance of a plan-led system, and set out the clear expectation that all areas should produce a Local Plan by early 2017.

Local Enterprise Partnerships

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many representations his Department has received from (a) councillors, (b) hon. Members and (c) members of the public expressing concerns over the working of local enterprise partnerships in the last three years.

James Wharton: This information is not available.

Social Rented Housing: Construction

Mr Gavin Shuker: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to encourage the building of homes for social rent.

Brandon Lewis: We are committed to delivering 275,000 affordable homes by 2020. This will be the fastest rate of affordable house building in the last 20 years. The Affordable Homes Programme is open and receiving bids. We have already allocated £1 billion.

Planning Permission

Kevin Hollinrake: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to speed up the planning process.

Brandon Lewis: The Productivity Plan published in July sets out ambitious plans to further streamline the planning process. This includes making it easier to establish the principle of development, streamline the length and process for Local Plans and introducing a new dispute resolution process for section 106 agreements.

Housing: Disability

John Glen: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the National Planning Policy Framework in addressing the housing needs of disabled people.

James Wharton: Planning authorities are required to plan for a mix of housing to cater for the needs of different groups in their communities, including people with disabilities. The Government has an ongoing dialogue with a range of stakeholders to assess the effectiveness of the Framework.

Refugees

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had with local government leaders on the provision of (a) housing and (b) other council assistance for refugees.

Greg Clark: My rt. hon. Friend, the Home Secretary and I are leading a Joint Committee – the Ministerial Group on Syrian Refugees – to put in place the necessary arrangements to resettle 20,000 Syrian refugees over the course of this Parliament. Representatives from the Local Government Association attended the first meeting of this Group on Friday. Other key partners such as charities and faith institutions will also have the opportunity to contribute.

Local Government Finance

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what recent comparative assessment he has made of (a) the level of funding for and (b) the costs of local authorities.

Mr Mark Francois: My Department publishes figures on spending power for all local authorities each year, which includes both central government and locally-raised funding.Together with other Departments we are using the Spending Review to consider the level of funding for local government and have invited representations from interest groups including local authorities.

HM Treasury

Bank Levy

Paul Flynn: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 20 July 2015 to Question 6495, how much he forecasts will be collected from the bank levy in (a) 2018-19 and (b) 2019-20.

Harriett Baldwin: The OBR has forecasted bank levy receipts as follows:   2018-19: £2.6 billion 2019-20: £2.4 billion

Royal Bank of Scotland

Paul Flynn: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he made of the market before setting out the timetable for the recent sale of Government shares in Royal Bank of Scotland; and what assessment he has made of the value for money to the public purse of that sale.

Harriett Baldwin: The Chancellor received advice from UK Financial Investments (UKFI) that it would be appropriate to conduct the first sale of the government’s shareholdings in the Royal Bank of Scotland on 4 August 2015, based on the share price at the time, and the prevailing market conditions.   In addition, the Chancellor received advice from HM Treasury that a sale would offer good value for money and meet all other requirements in accordance with the principles of Managing Public Money.   The sale raised £2.1 billion, which will be used to pay down the national debt.  The advice from UKFI and HM Treasury is available on the government’s website www.gov.uk.

Expenditure: Public Sector

Paul Flynn: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many responses he has received to the letter sent by him to all public sector workers in August 2015 asking for ideas to reduce public sector expenditure to date.

Greg Hands: .The Public Sector Efficiency Challenge survey closed on Friday 4 September and over 20,000 public sector employees gave us their ideas. The government will release further details in due course.

Child Benefit

Alex Cunningham: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy to reduce the time for which a parent or guardian can receive child benefit after a child has left their care.

Damian Hinds: The Chancellor keeps all aspects of the tax and welfare system under review. In recognition of the importance of Child Benefit and its key role within family budgets in this country, the Prime Minister pledged before the election that this Government will not cut Child Benefit. The Government will however, go into negotiations to ensure that if an EU migrant’s child is living abroad, then they should receive no child benefit for that child.

Small Businesses: Minimum Wage

Guto Bebb: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of increasing the VAT threshold so that small businesses complying with the new national minimum wage can continue to operate below the VAT threshold.

Mr David Gauke: The Government has chosen to maintain the highest VAT registration threshold in the EU (set at £82,000 from 1 April 2015). The Government may not increase this threshold further, aside from maintaining its value in line with inflation, without the consent of the European Commission and the unanimous agreement of all EU Member States.

Working Tax Credit: Public Sector

Ruth Smeeth: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many public sector employees are currently in receipt of working tax credits.

Damian Hinds: The information requested could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Fuels: Tax Evasion

Ms Margaret Ritchie: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many illegal diesel plants have been discovered in Northern Ireland between (a) 1 April 2014 and 31 March 2015 and (b) 1 April 2015 to 30 June 2015; and if he will make a statement.

Damian Hinds: HMRC detected and dismantled 27 laundering plants between 1 April 2014 and 31 March 2015, and 5 in the period 1 April 2015 to 30 June 2015. Additionally, HMRC fights fraud on a wide range of fronts, from special units performing thousands of roadside checks to raiding laundering plants. The UK has recently introduced an improved new marker for rebated fuel, which will make it much harder to launder marked fuel and sell it at a profit.

Revenue and Customs: Correspondence

Andrew Bingham: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the average waiting time is for responses to correspondence to HM Revenue and Customs.

Mr David Gauke: HM Revenue and Customs has published the information on the performance results including post turnaround in the Annual Report and Accounts 2014-15. Link available below: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/449343/HMRC_Annual_Report_and_Accounts_2014-15__Web_accessible_version_.pdf

Fuels: Tax Evasion

David Simpson: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent estimate he has made of the amount of laundered fuel moved from the Republic of Ireland to the UK each year.

Damian Hinds: No specific assessment has been made of the loss of revenue due to laundered fuel moving from the Republic of Ireland to the UK each year. However, tax gap figures published in October 2014 in the document at the link below estimates the market share for all illicit diesel in Northern Ireland as 13%, or £80M in 2012/13. Petrol fraud is negligible   https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/measuring-tax-gaps   The government is committed to reducing revenue loss due to fuel duty fraud and HM Revenue and Customs works closely with the Revenue Commissioners in the Republic of Ireland and others to fight fuel fraud on a wide range of fronts.

Welfare Tax Credits

Ian Austin: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how his Department will monitor the effect of changes to tax credits on the income of the poorest families.

Damian Hinds: The Department for Work and Pensions publishes a series of statistics on the number and percentage of people living in low-income households in the UK. These publications are located here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/households-below-average-income-hbai--2   Another publication series which monitors low-income households is The Effects of Taxes and Benefits on Household Income. These are produced by the Office for National Statistics and are located here: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/household-income/the-effects-of-taxes-and-benefits-on-household-income/index.html   An update of these publications are provided at the end of each financial year. They examine how taxes and benefits redistribute income between various groups of households in the UK.

Welfare Tax Credits: Dudley North

Ian Austin: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the effect of changes to tax credits on the average income of families in Dudley North constituency.

Damian Hinds: This information is unavailable.   The Government is making changes to Tax Credits and Universal Credit which will help put welfare spending on a more sustainable path. The emphasis is on supporting hardworking families on low incomes by reducing income tax through increases in the personal allowance and increasing wages, rather than on topping up low wages through tax credits.   HMT has published distributional analysis information on the impact of the Summer Budget 2015 which includes the effect of tax credit and other welfare measures on households. This information can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/443229/PU1822_Distributional_Analysis.pdf

EU Withdrawal: Economic Growth

Rushanara Ali: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the possible effect of UK exit from the EU on the long-run rate of economic growth in (a) the UK and (b) London.

Mr David Gauke: The Government has a clear mandate to improve Britain’s relationship with the rest of the EU, and to reform the EU so that it creates jobs and increases living standards for all its citizens. As the Chancellor of the Exchequer, my right hon. Friend the Member for Tatton (Mr Osborne) has noted, the best outcome for the UK economy is that we achieve major economic reform of the EU. The Prime Minister is focused on success: he believes he can and will succeed in reforming and renegotiating our relationship with the EU and campaigning to keep the UK in the EU on that basis.

VAT: Sunscreen

Carolyn Harris: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy to reduce VAT on sunscreen.

Mr David Gauke: The Government fully recognises the importance of raising awareness of all of the different ways people can protect themselves from the harmful rays of the sun. The Government believes that supporting marketing campaigns, which are recognised to be a cost-effective way of raising public awareness, is the right approach to take.

Tax Avoidance

Phil Boswell: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will take steps to close the tax avoidance scheme known as the Mayfair tax loophole.

Mr David Gauke: I assume that the honourable gentleman’s question refers to the capital gains tax treatment of carried interest. This practice is long-standing and is consistent with international practice. The Government announced legislation at Summer Budget to ensure that managers pay at least the full rate of capital gains tax on their profit from carried interest. The Government is also consulting on proposals to ensure that this capital gains tax treatment is only accessible by individuals who manage funds carrying on genuine long-term investment activity and not more widely.

Loans: Greece

Jim Shannon: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will continue to ensure that the UK does not contribute to the EU bailout package for Greece.

Mr David Gauke: While Greece remains in the euro, its financial stability is the responsibility of the euro area. The Government has secured a deal that protects UK taxpayers from any risk from financing euro area bailouts now and in the future. This deal gives legal force to the commitment secured in 2010 that UK taxpayers would not be drawn into a euro area bailout.

London Airports

Roger Mullin: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether public expenditure on infrastructure and access associated with a proposed new runway in South East England would be subject to the Barnett Formula.

Greg Hands: The government is currently considering the report produced by the Airports Commission before making any decisions on airport capacity. If a final decision has any implications for public spending, those will be worked through in the normal way at the appropriate time.

Interest Rate Swap Transactions

Guto Bebb: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether Ministers in his Department met representatives of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to discuss the FCA interest rate hedging products redress scheme in January 2013.

Guto Bebb: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Financial Conduct Authority made an estimate of the potential liability of (a) Lloyds and (b) RBS under the interest rate hedging products redress scheme during the development of that scheme.

Harriett Baldwin: Whether the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) made an estimate of the potential liability of any banks is a matter for the FCA. However, it is reasonable to assume that for any conduct issue that arises, the FCA would seek to understand the potential financial impact.   Several meetings took place between Treasury Ministers and the FCA in January 2012 (then the Financial Services Authority), although I understand that FCA’s interest rate hedging products redress scheme was not on the agenda for any of these meetings.

Joint Exchequer Committee

Ian Murray: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he plans to publish the minutes and papers from the last two meetings of the Joint Exchequer Committee; and if he will place those documents in the Library.

Greg Hands: The relevant information from the last two Joint Exchequer Committees, as agreed by the UK and Scottish Governments, has been published online, and can be found in the following locations on gov.uk:   7th July: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/joint-exchequer-committee-communique-7-july-2015   4th September: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/joint-exchequer-committee-4-september-2015

Public Sector: Pay

Mr Douglas Carswell: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assumptions his Department made about the likely percentage growth of public sector pay in (a) 2016-17, (b) 2017-18, (c) 2018-19, (d) 2019-20 and (e) 2020-21 before announcing the policy of a one per cent cap on public sector pay increases in the Summer Budget 2015.

Greg Hands: The Treasury considered OBR’s forecasts of inflation and public sector workforce size before announcing the policy of a one per cent cap on public sector pay increases in the Summer Budget 2015.   The latest OBR forecasts are published alongside the Summer Budget 2015, and are available here: http://budgetresponsibility.org.uk/economic-fiscal-outlook-july-2015/

Personal Income

Stephen Timms: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the effect was of the tax and benefit changes announced in the Budget on median household income in each income quintile.

Mr David Gauke: Distributional analysis of the impact of government policy across the household income distribution was published alongside the Summer Budget, and can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/443229/PU1822_Distributional_Analysis.pdf

Inheritance Tax

Justin Madders: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what proportion of estates where liable for inheritance tax in (a) Ellesmere Port and Neston constituency, (b) the North West and (c) England in the last financial year for which figures are available.

Mr David Gauke: The information requested is published each year as part of Table 12.12 of the Inheritance Tax Official statistics, The most recent year for which these figures are available is 2012-13 and can be found at the following link : https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/inheritance-tax-statistics-table-1212-provisional-numbers-of-taxpaying-estates-passing-on-death-in-2012-to-2013.

Private Rented Housing

Ian Murray: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effects of the measures to restrict finance cost relief for landlords, announced in the Summer Budget 2015, on the level of housing demand in (a) Scotland and (b) the UK.

Mr David Gauke: Overall, the OBR believes the impact of the restriction to tax relief for finance costs on the housing market will be small and, taking account of the other measures in the Summer Budget, have not adjusted their forecast for house prices.

Private Rented Housing

Ian Murray: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effects of the measures to restrict finance cost relief for landlords, announced in the Summer Budget 2015, on the supply of property in the private rented sector in (a) Scotland and (b) the UK.

Mr David Gauke: HM Treasury expects a minimal impact on the supply of property in the private rented sector in Scotland and the UK from changes to restrict tax relief on finance costs. Fewer than 1 in 5 landlords are expected to pay more tax as a result of this measure and it will be introduced gradually from April 2017 over 4 years to give landlords time to adjust. The Budget also announced increased Rent a Room relief, which can help to increase levels of private rented accommodation.   The Government is taking significant steps to support housing supply with housing starts at a 7 year high. Overall, the OBR believe the impact on the housing market will be small and, taking account of the other measures in the Summer Budget, have not adjusted their forecast for house prices.

Housing Benefit

Ian Murray: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the effects of the measures to restrict finance cost relief for landlords, announced in the Summer Budget 2015, on the overall costs of Housing Benefit in (a) Scotland and (b) the UK.

Mr David Gauke: The overall cost of housing benefit is dependent on a number of factors such as, household and individual circumstances in regards to employment and household income, inflation and rents. The Government does not expect a large impact on rent levels in Scotland and the UK from this policy, and any impact would be dampened in the short term due to other policy decisions. Therefore the government does not anticipate changes to the overall cost of Housing Benefit as a result.

Private Rented Housing

Ian Murray: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effects of the measures to restrict finance cost relief for landlords, announced in the Summer Budget 2015, on levels of investment in the private rented sector in (a) Scotland and (b) the UK.

Mr David Gauke: The Government expects the restriction to tax relief for finance costs to have a minimal impact on house building in Scotland and the UK. The Productivity Plan published alongside the Summer Budget includes a number of measures to make the planning system quicker, cheaper and more responsive to local needs. Overall, the OBR believe the impact on the housing market will be small and, taking account of the other measures in the Summer Budget, have not adjusted their forecast for house prices.

Private Rented Housing

Ian Murray: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effects of the measures to restrict finance cost relief for landlords, announced in the Summer Budget 2015, on the average rent payable in the private rented sector in (a) Scotland and (b) the UK.

Mr David Gauke: The Government does not expect the restriction to tax relief for finance costs to have a large impact on rent levels in Scotland or the UK due to the small overall proportion of the housing market affected. There are 1.6 million buy to let mortgages outstanding in the UK overall, out of a total private rented sector of 4.4 million households and total housing stock of 22.6 million households in England.

Taxation: Scotland

Ian Murray: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of the cost to the public purse of forestalling in relation to the land and building transaction tax; and what additional sums the Scottish Government has requested in transfer to the Scottish Budget for 2015-16 in relation to that tax.

Greg Hands: The Scottish Government’s decision to pre-announce the rates and thresholds for the land and buildings transactions tax (LBTT) led to changes in the timing of some transactions in Scotland. Specifically, some higher value transactions were brought forward into 2014-15, while some lower value transactions were delayed into 2015-16.   In their March 2015 ‘Devolved taxes forecast’ publication, the OBR estimated that “This increases UK SDLT receipts under the old system by £11 million in 2014-15 and reduces the LBTT forecast by £20 million in 2015-16”. The treatment of these policy ‘spillover’ effects was considered by the Smith Commission and is now being discussed by the UK Government and Scottish Government as part of the wider fiscal framework discussions.

Department for Transport

Roads: Repairs and Maintenance

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of the £200 million made available to fix potholes in the 2014 Budget was allocated to councils in 2014-15.

Andrew Jones: The 2014 Budget announced £200 million was being made available to fix potholes on the local road network. £168 million was made available to all local highway authorities in England, with the remainder being provided to the Devolved Administrations. Funding awards were announced on 20 June 2014 and further information, including individual allocations to councils, is available at the following weblink:https://www.gov.uk/government/news/councils-given-168-million-to-fix-local-roads

Income Tax: Self-employed

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his policy is on the payment of salaries through (a) payroll companies and (b) personal service companies to staff who work on projects that are part-funded by his Department.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Department for Transport does not pay its employees through payroll companies or personal services companies.

Railways: Infrastructure

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether Dame Colette Bowe has submitted a draft of her report on the planning of major projects to his Department.

Claire Perry: Dame Colette has provided officials with initial draft advice to enable planning of the Department’s response to and implementation of her recommendations. The Secretary of State expects to receive Dame Colette’s final report shortly and as already stated it will be published in the Autumn. Upon publication I will ensure a copy is placed in both Libraries.

Network Rail: Business Plans

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the publication by Network Rail of a CP5 Business Plan update in March 2015 was a regulated output of Control Period 5.

Claire Perry: The network licence issued by ORR sets legally-binding conditions for the licence holder – Network Rail. Condition 1.10 states that: "the licence holder shall prepare, provide to ORR and publish a delivery plan setting out what the licence holder proposes to do to comply with the general duty in condition 1.2."   Network Rail fulfilled this requirement when it published a Delivery Plan for Control Period 5 on 31 March 2014. The Business Plan is distinct from the Delivery Plan and its publication is not a network licence condition.

Midland Main Railway Line

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the four-tracking of the Midland Main Line from Bedford to Kettering and Corby is contingent upon the recommendations of the Hendy Review.

Claire Perry: Kettering to Corby which is part 4 and part 2 tracking is currently in full implementation. Bedford to Kettering, in common with all rail projects, is subject to the recommendations of the Hendy Review which is due to report to the Secretary of State for Transport in the autumn.

Channel Tunnel

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what support he has provided to rail freight operators as a result of the recent disruption to Channel Tunnel services.

Claire Perry: A number of measures are being put in place including the provision of secure fencing, increased security sweeps and extra security staff for the Fréthun freight yard. The fencing and extra security staff have been financed by HMG. There has also been support for the rail freight operators in the form of regular liaison meetings between the operators, Eurotunnel and Government which has facilitated operational measures such as daytime running at preferential rates.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Bangladesh: Religious Freedom

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 8 June 2015 to Question 835, what recent discussions he has had with his counterpart in Bangladesh about religious freedom in that country; and what support the UK is offering to the authorities in that country to protect secular campaigners from religious violence.

Mr Hugo Swire: The UK has been resolute in its condemnation of the murders of four secular bloggers and activists in Bangladesh this year. In my statement following the most recent murder on 7 August, I said that freedom of speech is a universal right which must be protected and I called for an urgent investigation to bring the perpetrators to justice. The UK is fully committed to the protection of freedom of religion or belief and supports the freedom of people of all faiths – and those of none – to express and practice their beliefs in peace and safety. Together with other diplomatic missions in Dhaka, the British High Commission has called on the government and law enforcement authorities to take all necessary steps to protect those at risk for expressing their opinions. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office Human Rights and Democracy Programme has also supported a project by Article 19 in Bangladesh to work with bloggers to develop a Charter of Bloggers Rights, provide safety training and produce a review of current legislation restricting online expression. We welcome the visit to Bangladesh from 31 August to 9 September of the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion and Belief and look forward to reading his report.

India: Castes

Mr David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will work with Amnesty International to make representations to the Indian government to prevent the punishment of the Kumari sisters.

Mr Hugo Swire: The UK has demonstrated its strong commitment to tackling violence against women and girls around the world. We are aware of the serious concerns around violence against women and girls in India and are committed to working with the Indian government and international partners on this. We understand that this particular case is being investigated by the local Indian police.

Papua: Human Rights

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his Indonesian counterpart on human rights violations, alleged killings carried out by the military and attempts to increase logging in West Papua.

Mr Hugo Swire: In January 2015, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), raised the situation in the Indonesian province of Papua with the Indonesian Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi. The Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), spoke to Indonesian President Joko Widodo about West Papua during his visit to Jakarta in July. We will continue to press the Indonesian authorities to address legitimate concerns and ensure the sustainable and equitable development of the provinces. Through our Embassy in Jakarta, the UK is delivering a £10m programme on land use and low-carbon development in Papua to help create a sustainable pattern of development and protect the environment. Our Embassy staff visit the provinces regularly, discussing our concerns with government officials, civil society leaders and human rights defenders. Most recently, our Ambassador in Jakarta visited Papua in June and raised these issues with members of the local administration, police, and religious and community leaders.

India: Elephants

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what progress his Department has made on supporting the Indian government in protecting the Asian Elephant.

Mr Hugo Swire: The UK is at the forefront of international efforts to protect the welfare of animals. The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs leads on these issues, and through the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species the UK is in discussion with elephant range States, including India, to increase protection for Asian elephants. The Government is also working closely with the European Commission and other Member States, with the support of international animal welfare organisations and other interested groups, to try to raise global standards of animal welfare.

Singapore: Human Rights

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to the government of Singapore on people being detained without trial in prisons in that country.

Mr Hugo Swire: At Singapore’s Universal Periodic Review before the UN Human Rights Council in 2011 the UK recommended that Singapore sign the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which includes a guarantee of the right to trial under its article 9. Singapore agreed to study the possibility of acceeding to Human Rights treaties that it has yet to join. The UK will continue to recommend to Singapore that it is in its best interests to address its security and law and order concerns in ways which guarantee that everyone has the right to a trial in court.

Thailand: Prison Accommodation

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to the government of Thailand on prison conditions in that country.

Mr Hugo Swire: We have previously raised our concerns about prison conditions with the Thai Minister for Justice and senior officials. They have shown themselves willing to cooperate on work to improve prison conditions and we are ready to share our experience and expertise. We maintain a regular dialogue with senior prison officials to address specific concerns.

China: Human Rights

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions his Department has had with its Chinese counterpart on the detainment of Zhang Kai and Liu Peng.

Mr Hugo Swire: I am aware of reports that lawyer Zhang Kai was detained on 25 August, alongside two of his assistants, Liu Peng and Fang Xiangui, and members of a Christian congregation. I am concerned that this is reflective of the wider situation facing rights lawyers in China. Reports suggest that over 200 lawyers have been detained or questioned since 9 July, and the space in which they operate is increasingly constrained. The UK supported an EU statement of 15 July which said the detentions raised serious questions about China’s commitment to strengthening the rule of law. We have ongoing discussions with the Chinese authorities on human rights and rule of law issues, and discussed these matters in detail during the UK-China Human Rights Dialogue in April. We also raise the broader range of our concerns in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Annual Report on Human Rights and Democracy (www.hrdreport.fco.gov.uk).

China: Christianity

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions his Department has had with its Chinese counterpart on the religious persecution of Christians in that country.

Mr Hugo Swire: We believe that Freedom of Religion or Belief is a fundamental human right, and its promotion and protection is a priority for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. People of all faiths should be free to practice their religion according to their beliefs, free from persecution. I remain concerned by the restrictions placed on Christianity in China. We are aware of the closure or demolition of churches, and the removal of crosses from buildings, particularly in Zhejiang Province. We are also aware of reports that individuals are harassed or detained for practicing their beliefs. We raised these, and the broad range of our concerns around religious freedom, directly with Chinese officials during the UK-China Human Rights Dialogue in April. We also continue to highlight them publicly in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Annual Report on Human Rights and Democracy (www.hrdreport.fco.gov.uk). We will continue to discuss our concerns with China as part of the wider bilateral relationship.

Thailand: Human Rights

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to the government of Thailand on upholding the Paris Principles for (a) migrant workers and (b) refugees.

Mr Hugo Swire: Our officials in Thailand raise both human rights, including upholding the Paris Principles, and wider migration issues regularly with the Thai authorities. Our Embassy engages with the UN High Commission for Refugees, the International Organisation for Migration, and non-government organisations supporting their work and engagement on migrant workers and refugees with the Thai authorities.

Andy Hall

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what information his Department holds on the reasons for which Andy Hall is being prosecuted in Thailand.

Mr Hugo Swire: On 24 August, Bangkok’s Criminal Court indicted Mr Hall for criminal defamation and violating the Computer Crimes Act. Charges were brought by the Natural Fruit Company Ltd, but Thailand’s Attorney General later joined the prosecution. Our Embassy observed this hearing along with counterparts from other EU Embassies. The Court summoned Mr Hall to appear next on 19 October. The charges relate to an Aljazeera interview Mr Hall gave in Rangoon, Burma in which he discussed his involvement in conducting research for Finnwatch’s 2013 report, Cheap Has a High Price. This examined workers’ rights and possible abuses in the fruit industry in Thailand.

Andy Hall

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what reports he has received of the effect on (a) due process and independence of the judiciary and (b) freedom of expression and labour standards in Thailand of the decision by the Thailand Attorney General to appeal against the court dismissal of the charges against Andy Hall.

Mr Hugo Swire: We are following these issues in Thailand closely. We have been clear that we support freedom of expression unequivocally and have expressed our concerns to the Thai authorities. We have raised Mr Hall’s case with the Thai Justice Minister, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other Thai authorities. We have also raised his issues with the National Legislative Assembly and passed them a report from him. We are in touch with the UN High Commission for Refugees, the International Organisation on Migration and non-government organisations about the rights of migrant workers, refugees, trafficking and other labour issues. Our officials continue to monitor and observe Mr Hall’s case closely. We will ensure that his case is raised with the Thai authorities where appropriate and remind the authorities of their obligations to ensure international human rights standards are upheld.

Andy Hall

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations his Department has made to its Thai counterpart since the Thai Attorney General's appeal against the court dismissal of the criminal defamation case against Andy Hall.

Mr Hugo Swire: Our officials in our Embassy in Bangkok have followed Mr Hall’s case closely and are in regular touch with him. We stand ready to provide consular assistance should Mr Hall require it. We have no jurisdiction to interfere in other countries’ judicial processes. However, we have raised Mr Hall’s case with the Thai Justice Minister, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other Thai authorities. We have also raised his issues with the National Legislative Assembly and passed them a report from him. We are in touch with the UN High Commission for Refugees, the International Organisation on Migration and non-governmental organisations about the rights of migrant workers, refugees, trafficking and other labour issues.

Falkland Islands: Fisheries

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether his Department has made any investigation into commercial fishing licence infringements reported in the Falkland Islands in the last month.

Mr Hugo Swire: Five vessels which have licences to operate in Falkland Conservation Zones are currently under investigation by the Falkland Islands Government for alleged contraventions of the Falkland Islands Fisheries Ordinance. A decision has yet to be taken as to whether the cases will proceed to prosecution; that is a matter for the Attorney General of the Falkland Islands.

Falkland Islands: Fisheries

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with members of the Falkland Islands Legislative Assembly on their commercial interests in fishing in the Falkland Islands.

Mr Hugo Swire: I regularly discuss a wide range of issues affecting Falkland Island commercial interests, including fishing, when I meet Members of the Legislative Assembly. Most recently I met MLA Hansen in July.

Thailand: Human Rights

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with (a) Ministerial colleagues and (b) UK-based companies on human rights and the treatment of migrant workers in Thailand.

Mr Hugo Swire: Our officials in Thailand raise both human rights, including upholding the Paris Principles, and wider migration issues regularly with the Thai authorities. We also work closely with representatives of the European Union. We have raised these issues with British and Thai companies. Our Embassy engages the UN High Commission for Refugees, the International Organisation for Migration, and non-governmental organisations supporting their work and engagement on migrant workers and refugees with the Thai authorities.

Falkland Islands: Fisheries

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether observers have been placed on any of the vessels which were recently reported to have infringed their licensing agreements in the Falkland Islands to ensure compliance with all licence requirements.

Mr Hugo Swire: As these alleged infringements are currently the subject of an ongoing criminal investigation we cannot comment any further.

Far East: Animal Welfare

Kirsten  Oswald: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations his Department has made to its counterpart in (a) South Korea and (b) China on the use of cats and dogs for food (i) in general and (ii) in the Yulin and Bok Nal festivals.

Mr Hugo Swire: The Government is committed to raising standards of animal welfare at home and abroad. In a number of countries, including the Republic of Korea and China, the sale and consumption of dog meat is legal, although the practice of eating dog soup (posintang) in the Republic of Korea during Boknal is declining rapidly as attitudes change. There are no international norms, laws or agreements governing the trade and consumption of dog and cat meat. Instead we seek to work with governments around the world to gain agreement to animal welfare standards and to phase out cruel and inhumane farming and trapping practices. Ministers have raised this issue with Chinese counterparts and explained that UK Parliamentarians and the public want to see regulation that would bring the practice to an end. Our Ambassador in Seoul has delivered similar messages to South Korean authorities. Our officials will continue to highlight our concerns.

Somaliland

Jeremy Lefroy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the Government's policy is on the future status of Somaliland.

Grant Shapps: The Government's policy on the future status of Somaliland is that it is for Somalia and Somaliland to determine their future relationship, and for neighbouring countries in the region to take the lead in recognising any new arrangements or change in status.

Department for International Development

Department for International Development: Carbon Emissions

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much her Department spent on carbon offsetting in each of the last three years; and to which companies payments in respect of carbon offsetting were made in each such year.

Grant Shapps: DFID has offset all its air miles flown annually since 2008 through the Government Carbon Offsetting Scheme (GCOF). We have spent the following sums in each of the last three years: 2011/12: £8,3452012/13: £14,208 2013/14: £25,341 In 2011/12 and 2012/13 payment was made to EDF Trading Ltd. In 2013/14 it was made to Carbon Footprint Ltd.

Department for International Development: Consultants

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what policy evaluations have been carried out by external organisations for her Department and its non-departmental public body in each financial year since 2010-11; whether the output of those evaluations was published; which organisation carried out each such evaluation; and what the value of each contract to provide that evaluation was.

Mr Desmond Swayne: Since the 2010-2011 financial year, DFID published evaluations are available on the Department’s external website. No specific evaluation of DFID’s development policies carried out by any commissioned external organisation has been published since the 2010-2011 financial year.

Department for International Development: Expenditure

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much and what proportion of her Department's budget is spent in the UK.

Mr Desmond Swayne: During 2013, DFID disbursed £3.9m of Official Development Assistance (ODA) on programmes in the UK which represents 0.04% of total DFID ODA. The funds were spent on development awareness programmes including school partnerships and the development awareness fund.

Syria: Refugees

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if the Government will provide additional aid assistance to EU member states receiving large numbers of refugees from Syria to help them with their humanitarian work.

Justine Greening: The UK government has provided funding for UN agencies and NGOs which includes support for Syrian refugees in Italy and in Greece.  The UK is prioritising its aid efforts where the need is greatest. Only a small percentage of Syrians displaced from Syria are seeking asylum in Europe; the vast majority remain in Syria and neighbouring countries. DFID is providing over £1 billion in response to the conflict in Syria. Of this, £501 million is for inside Syria and £519 million is to support neighbouring countries deal with the influx of refugees and pressures this creates, including Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey. This has so far provided more than 18 million food rations, 2.4 million medical consultations and access to clean water for 1.6 million people. By meeting these basic needs we are helping Syrians stay in their home region.

West Africa: Ebola

Jeremy Lefroy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what discussions she has had with the World Health Organisation (WHO) over the structural reforms required to the WHO following the lessons learned from the organisation's response to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.

Grant Shapps: The United Kingdom is using its membership on the World Health Organisation’s Executive Board to push for a broad package of reforms to strengthen WHO’s future response to health emergencies and to improve wider organisational effectiveness.

Department for Education

Special Educational Needs: Hearing Impairment

Sir David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate Ofsted has made of the cost of requiring inspectors of specialist provision for deaf children to be teachers of the deaf.

Sir David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many Ofsted inspectors have the mandatory qualification in teaching deaf children.

Nick Gibb: This is a matter for Ofsted. I have asked Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Sir Michael Wilshaw, to write to the hon. Member with the information requested. A copy of his reply will be placed in the House library.

Faith Schools

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the speech given by the Prime Minister on 20 July 2015, on extremism, what her policy is on extending the 50 per cent cap on faith-based allocation of school places to all faith schools.

Edward Timpson: We are committed to retaining the 50 per cent cap for faith free schools and have no plans to extend the 50 per cent cap on faith-based allocation of school places.

Children: Protection

Paul Maynard: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what actions her Department is taking to promote a joined-up approach within and across Government departments to maintain and improve safeguarding for disabled children.

Paul Maynard: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to promote the safeguarding of disabled children.

Edward Timpson: At the heart of the government’s agenda for all children, including those with disabilities, is how to safeguard and protect their wellbeing and help develop their resilience in preparation for modern life. An important part of this will be the work of the cross-government ministerial taskforce, chaired by the Secretary of State for Education, to take forward work on child protection. The taskforce will look at how we get the best people to deliver the right outcomes for all children. In particular through social work reform and improving leadership; through improving systems and practice – building a better performing, more innovative social care sector; and through accountability and governance, looking at how arrangements locally and nationally help to drive a strong and improving system.  Through the Innovation Programme, the Department for Education is funding the Council for Disabled Children to lead a partnership of five local authorities for a one year project. They are testing new approaches to Social Work Assessment and aiming to determine accurate thresholds for service provision for disabled children which combine child and family centred services.   The newly-developed education, health and care (EHC) plan system is for children and young people aged up to 25 who need more support than is available through special educational needs support. EHC plans identify educational, health and social needs, setting out the additional support required to meet those needs, and many disabled children will benefit.

Children: Protection

Paul Maynard: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information her Department gathers on the safeguarding of children and the monitoring and review of safeguarding practice.

Edward Timpson: Local authorities’ services for safeguarding children are inspected under Ofsted’s Single Inspection Framework; this is the principal means by which the Department for Education monitors and reviews practice.   Under the Single Inspection Framework, Ofsted publish a judgement on the overall effectiveness of the local authority’s services, as well as sub-judgements for: children who need help and protection; children looked after and achieving permanence (including separate sub-judgements for adoption performance, and the experiences and progress of care leavers); and leadership, management and governance. In addition, the Ofsted report includes a rating for the effectiveness of the local safeguarding children board.   The department monitors inspection findings closely and intervenes formally in those local authorities whose performance is considered to be inadequate and where children are or may be at risk of harm. This intervention may be by way of an improvement notice, a statutory direction or – in the most serious cases – by the removal of services from the local authority.

Children: Protection

Paul Maynard: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) disabled and (b) non-disabled children were subject to (i) section 47 enquiries, (ii) child protection plans, (iii) care proceedings and (iv) serious case reviews in the last six months for which data is available.

Paul Maynard: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what data her Department routinely gathers about the safeguarding of disabled children from (a) inspection activity and (b) data returns; and how such information is analysed.

Edward Timpson: The latest published figures, derived from data collected through the children in need census, are available online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/characteristics-of-children-in-need-2013-to-2014   The Department for Education collects information on looked after children, however, the figures do not include information on disability. Information is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-looked-after-children   The Department does not hold complete data on whether a child who is the subject of a serious case review has a disability.   Ofsted gathers a range of safeguarding information from its inspection activity, and reports are publicly available.   The children in need census is an annual statutory census for all local authorities that is run by the Department for Education. The census collects data on children referred to local authority social care services because their health or development is at risk. This includes: children in local authority care;children who are receiving support from their local authority’s social care services;children who are the subject of a child protection plan; andunborn children who will potentially need support from social care services.

Children: Protection

Paul Maynard: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that Local Safeguarding Children Boards and local agencies are implementing the recommendations of the Ofsted 2012 thematic inspection on protecting disabled children.

Edward Timpson: Government statutory guidance, ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children’, which was revised in 2013 and again in 2015, sets out the requirements and expectations for all those involved in protecting children, including local safeguarding children boards (LSCBs) and partner agencies. This includes children with disabilities, who are subject to particular protections under the Children Act 1989. Under its November 2013 single inspection framework, Ofsted now reviews LSCBs and publishes reports on their performance.

Free School Meals

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, by what date she expects to confirm whether children of parents who claim universal credit while in employment will be entitled to free school meals.

Mr Sam Gyimah: We will continue to ensure that children from the poorest families benefit from a free school meal. The introduction of Universal Credit and simplification of the benefits system mean that the eligibility criteria for free school meals will need to be updated. The Department for Education is continuing to work closely with the Department for Work and Pensions on this. In the meantime, any child in a family in receipt of Universal Credit will continue to be entitled to free school meals.

Higher Education: Admissions

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what data her Department gathers on the comparative performance of students with (a) A' level, (b) BTec and (c) IB qualifications in gaining entry to higher education institutions in England and Wales.

Nick Gibb: The Department for Education produces statistics on England only. The responsibility for statistics about education in Wales lies with the Welsh devolved administration.   The information for England is not held in the format requested.

International Baccalaureate

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of state schools and academies in England and Wales entering students for Key Stage 5 examinations entered students for IB diploma examinations in each of the last three years.

Nick Gibb: The Department for Education produces statistics on England only. The responsibility for statistics about education in Wales lies with the Welsh devolved administration.   The requested information for England can be derived from the department’s performance tables, published online at: www.education.gov.uk/schools/performance/download_data.html[1]  [1] School level data on the number of students being entered for the IB diploma can be taken from the hyperlink labelled “2014_16-18_Underlying_Data_Institution_Level” and a full list of schools can be found at the hyperlink labelled “KS5 results”

International Baccalaureate

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what representations she has received on the examination point scores for the IB diploma used in school and college performance tables.

Nick Gibb: The Department for Education has received representations from the International Baccalaureate Organisation and some schools about the point scores for the IB diploma used in school and college performance tables.   We are reviewing the points we allocate to the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme in 2016 performance tables.   The points currently awarded to the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme are published online at (page 5): www.education.gov.uk/schools/performance/16to18_14/Point_Score_Document.pdf

Pupils: Depressive Illnesses

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assistance her Department provides to primary school teachers to support pupils with severe depression.

Mr Sam Gyimah: We recognise that schools have a vital role to play in helping to promote good mental health for all their pupils as well as providing early support where mental health problems have been identified.   To support them we have funded the Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) Association to produce guidance and key stages lesson plans on teaching about mental health and emotional wellbeing. The primary level lesson plans include topics such as teaching children how to describe emotions, talk about anxiety and worries, and develop coping strategies   We have issued advice on mental health and behaviour which clarifies the responsibility of the school, points to tools that can be used to help them identify pupils that may be experiencing a mental health problem such as depression, and outlines what they can do to provide a stable environment that builds good mental health in all pupils. This can be found online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mental-health-and-behaviour-in-schools--2   The department has also supported the development of MindEd, a free online portal funded by the Department of Health, which enables all adults working with children and young people to learn more about specific mental health problems and how to support them.   However, teachers are not mental health professionals and schools need to have timely access to appropriate specialist support where pupils have clinical conditions. In order to help them with this, we are contributing £1.5 million to a joint training pilot with NHS England. This aims to improve the knowledge of mental health issues with key schools and Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services staff as well as develop effective ways for pupils who need access to specialist mental health services.   £1.25 billion additional funding is also being made available over the next five years to transform children and young people’s mental health services to deliver more integrated and accessible services.

Pupils: Drugs

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to improve understanding of the effects on education of the misuse of drugs by children in schools.

Edward Timpson: The government funds the annual survey of smoking, drinking and drug use, which provides authoritative statistics on smoking, drinking and drug use among 11 to 15 year olds in England. It has been run annually since 1982 and provides national and regional trends in substance use. The latest survey data from 2014 shows that 18% of 11-15 year olds have smoked at least once, which is the lowest level since the survey began in 1982. The percentage of young people who have tried alcohol at least once (38%) was also its lowest level since 1982 and drug use has continued to decline with 15% of 11-15 year olds reporting that they had tried drugs at least once.   The evidence is clear that pupils with better health and wellbeing are likely to achieve better academically and that misusing drugs is likely to harm a child’s health and education.  As part of the statutory duty on schools to promote pupils’ wellbeing, schools have a clear role to play in preventing and handling drug misuse as part of their pastoral responsibilities. Department for Education jointly published drug advice for schools and local authorities, with the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) in September 2012. The advice is available on gov.uk: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/drugs-advice-for-schools

Classroom Assistants: Special Educational Needs

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the scope within the existing budget of increasing the number of SEN-trained teaching assistants so that children with high needs can have more one-to-one support.

Edward Timpson: Most teaching assistants who support children with Special Educational Needs (SEN) are employed by schools to meet the needs of those who require such intervention. Others are employed using top-up funding that the local authority provides to schools, usually for children with the most complex needs who have statements of SEN or Education, Health and Care plans.   It is for individual schools to make the necessary decisions as to how many teaching assistants they should have and how to deploy them. Schools are legally required to use their best endeavours to make sure that children with SEN get the support they need. A school may judge it appropriate to provide one-to-one support for some children. If so, it is for the school to ensure that those providing such support are suitably trained.

Special Educational Needs

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help schools with a high number of Special Educational Needs (SEN) pupils meet the first £6,000 of SEN funding.

Edward Timpson: Local authorities have the responsibility to make sure that the schools in their area are given enough funding to meet the needs of all their pupils, including the additional support required by those with special educational needs (SEN). Local authorities design their local school funding formula to give extra money to schools likely to have more children with SEN. Authorities also have flexibility to give even more funding to schools with a relatively high proportion of such children, and to give top-up funding for individual pupils whose additional support costs more than £6,000 per year.

Pupils: Neuromuscular Disorders

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what additional support her Department is providing to schools to help provide more help to pupils with serious neurological conditions.

Edward Timpson: We recognise the need to ensure children with serious neurological conditions can access their education alongside everyone else. In recognition of this, the Children and Families Act 2014 now places a duty on governing bodies of maintained schools, proprietors of academy schools and alternative provision academies and management committees of pupil referral units to make arrangements for supporting pupils with medical conditions, which would include serious neurological conditions, at their school. This has been reinforced through new statutory guidance for maintained schools and academies on ‘Supporting pupils at school with medical conditions’ which was published in September 2014:www.gov.uk/government/publications/supporting-pupils-at-school-with-medical-conditions--3   This guidance emphasises the following: • Pupils at school with medical conditions should be properly supported so that they have full access to education, including school trips and physical education. • Governing bodies must ensure that arrangements are in place in schools to support pupils at school with medical conditions. • Governing bodies should ensure that school leaders consult health and social care professionals, pupils and parents to ensure that the needs of children with medical conditions are effectively supported.   Where a pupil has a neurological disorder that results in a special educational need (SEN), the school and the local authority are also under an obligation through the reformed SEN and Disability (SEND) system to meet their needs and provide appropriate support.   In 2015-16, the department has funded £5.9 million of grants through the voluntary and community sector (VCS) National Prospectus and £7 million of contracts to support implementation of the SEND reforms. These organisations provide support on specific types of SEN for schools, teachers and parents; delivery support for schools, colleges, early years settings and local authorities in implementing the new duties in the Children and Families Act 2014; and support for parent-carer forums.

Social Services: Children

Jess Phillips: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress her Department is making towards developing a national outcomes framework for the commissioning of children's services and special educational needs provision.

Edward Timpson: In December 2014, the Department for Education asked Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to inspect local areas on their effectiveness in fulfilling their duties for children and young people who have special educational needs and/or are disabled. Ofsted and the CQC will hold a public consultation on the proposed inspection framework, with first inspections taking place in May 2016.All local areas in England will be inspected over a 5 year period.

Children in Care

Jess Phillips: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the finding of the National Audit Office report Care leavers' transitions to adulthood, published 17 July 2015, that the Care Leavers' Strategy has limited implementation capability.

Jess Phillips: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policy of the National Audit Office report Care leavers' transitions to adulthood, published 17 July 2015, that an outcome-based payment scheme can improve outcomes for care leavers and encourage innovation.

Jess Phillips: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the effects of staying put arrangements in foster care on (a) the capacity of the foster care market and (b) finances of foster carers.

Edward Timpson: The first ever cross-government care leaver strategy, published in October 2013, included commitments by eight government departments to introduce changes designed to remove barriers that care leavers face when making a successful transition to independence. The subsequent ‘one-year-on’ document reported that all these commitments had been met, or were on track to be delivered. The Department for Education is working with other departments through the Social Justice Cabinet Committee to identify ways of further strengthening the support available to care leavers. Current data suggests that there is no overall shortage of foster carers at the national level, although there are reports of shortages in some areas, especially for specific types of placement, such as those catering for large sibling groups and children with special needs. The number of foster care places increased by 4,627 between March 2013 and March 2014. This exceeded the increase in children in foster placements over the same period (660). We will continue to keep the issue under review.  We are aware that individual local authorities are taking different approaches to funding the costs of Staying Put arrangements. In some areas this includes asking care leavers to claim benefits (including housing benefit), or contribute a proportion of any earnings they receive to their ‘staying put’ carers to supplement the allowances paid to them by the local authority.

Primary Education: Free School Meals

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans her Department has to continue the universal infant free school meals programme.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The Government is currently conducting a Spending Review across all its programmes. The Government does not offer a running commentary on the Spending Review.

Education: Procurement

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to improve procurement in the education sector; and if she will make a statement.

Nick Gibb: To improve procurement efficiencies in the schools sector the Department for Education works closely with the Crown Commercial Service and other public sector buying organisations to create deals which better meet school needs. Schools procurement guidance is available on GOV.UK together with practical steps that schools can take such as, encouraging schools to share market intelligence, expertise, and buying common items collaboratively to achieve economies of scale from the supply market. The department works closely with representative school groups such as the Association of School and College Leaders and the National Association of School Business Managers to raise awareness of good deals available for schools and the benefits of adopting best practice procurement. To increase commercial capability and capacity in schools we have piloted a train the trainer programme which has been very well received. Schools procurement guidance is published online at:www.gov.uk/government/collections/departmental-advice-schools

Schools: West Sussex

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many schools in the county of West Sussex were funded (a) by the local authority and (b) centrally in the financial years 2010-11 to 2015-16.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The table below sets out the number of schools funded by the local authority and centrally in West Sussex. There have been an increasing number of providers who are funded centrally as they join the academy programme. It should be noted that academies are funded using the same local authority formulae as a local authority maintained school, and any differences locally reflect the demographic profile and population volume of the school or academy.2010-20112011-20122012-20132013-20142014-20152015-16Paid centrally [1]41535354650Paid by the LA [2]283270244245232229Total287285279280278279   Figures reflect the financial year April - March  [1] Providers included in the academy programme:AcademyFree SchoolsStudio SchoolsUTCs[2] Providers not in the academies programme:Community SchoolCommunity Special SchoolFoundation SchoolFoundation Special SchoolVoluntary Aided SchoolVoluntary Controlled School

Pupils: Per Capita Costs

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much (a) revenue and (b) capital funding has been provided to each pupil in state (i) primary and (ii) secondary schools in the county of West Sussex (A) in cash terms and (B) at 2015 prices in each financial year since 2005-06.

Mr Sam Gyimah: Average per pupil revenue funding figures for West Sussex are given below. With the introduction of the dedicated schools grant (DSG) in 2006-07, the changes to the funding mechanism meant figures were no longer available to be shown split by phase of education. Figures for financial years 2005 to 2013 are shown below. These are in cash terms: Average revenue per pupil funding (cash)2005-06 (baseline)2006-072007-082008-092009-102010-112011-122012-13West Sussex LA 3,6803,8904,1504,3204,5204,7404,7104,710   These are in real terms using July 2015 GDP deflators in 2014-15 prices: Average revenue per pupil funding (real)2005-06 (baseline)2006-072007-082008-092009-102010-112011-122012-13West Sussex LA 4,5004,6304,8004,8804,9705,0804,9504,870   Per pupil figures are using DSG allocations plus other schools related grants, e.g. school standards grant, school standards grant (personalisation), standards fund, and pupils aged 3-15 rounded to the nearest £10. Most of the additional grants were mainstreamed into DSG in 2011-12. The changes to DSG funding in financial year 2013 to 2014 with funding allocated through three blocks, namely schools, early years and high needs, means there is no longer a comparable overall figure with previous years. The table below shows the DSG schools block unit funding figures in cash and real terms for West Sussex LA: DSG schools block per pupil funding2013-20142014-2015 2015-2016West Sussex LA (cash)4,1964,1964,198West Sussex LA (real)*4,2544,1964,156 *Real terms figures shown in 2014-15 prices using GDP deflators at 08.07.15 Since 2011-12 schools have received the Pupil Premium which targets funding at pupils from the most deprived backgrounds to help them achieve their full potential. In 2011-12, the Premium was allocated for each pupil known to be eligible for Free School Meals, looked after children and children of parents in the armed services. In 2012-13 coverage was expanded to include pupils known to have been eligible for Free School Meals at any point in the last six years. The amounts per pupil for each type of pupil are shown in the following table in cash terms:   Pupil Premium per pupil (£)2011-20122012-20132013-20142014-20152015-2016Free School Meal Pupil Primary£488£623£953£1323£1320Free School Meal Pupil Secondary£488£623£900£935£935Service Children£200£250£300£300£300Looked After Children£488£623£900£1900*£1900* *Also includes children adopted from care   Total Pupil Premium allocations for West Sussex local authority for each year are shown in the following table in cash terms: Pupil Premium Allocations (£ millions)2011-20122012-20132013-20142014-20152015-16 (prov.)West Sussex4.2639.50215.39321.03321.339   These figures in real terms: Pupil Premium Allocations (£ millions)2011-20122012-20132013-20142014-20152015-16 (prov.)West Sussex4.4839.83315.60721.03321.128 Price Base: Real terms at 2014-15 prices, based on GDP deflators as at 08.07.2015   The table below shows capital funding for the financial years that are available. The data is in cash terms as allocations are phased across more than one year making real terms calculations meaningless. Complete information on the split of capital between phases of education is not held centrally. West Sussex £mCapital allocations2005-0644.82006-0736.82007-0855.02008-0950.32009-1077.92010-1194.82011-12121.82012-1345.42013-1438.52014-1554.12015-16 (prov.)18.5   Notes: 1. Capital allocations includes capital grant and supported borrowing allocations. 2. Figures are rounded to the nearest £100,000. 3. Funding in 2015-16 is still subject to project progress and is therefore subject to change.

Schools: Finance

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to alter the school funding formula; and if she will make a statement.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The Government is committed to making school funding fairer, to protecting the schools budget and to maintaining the Minimum Funding Levels uplift in this Parliament. The Government has already made significant progress on these commitments. We have protected schools funding for 2016-17 and baked into the baseline the extra £390 million we allocated in the previous parliament to the least fairly funded local authorities. We will come forward with our proposals on making school funding fairer in due course. The Secretary of State and I met with my Honourable Friend the Member for Mid Sussex and colleagues from West Sussex recently to discuss the issue. The Government fully understands the strength of feeling among Members that school funding needs to be made fairer.

Free School Meals: West Sussex

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many pupils in the county of West Sussex were eligible for free school meals in each year from 2005-06 to 2014-15.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The number and proportion of pupils in West Sussex local authority known to be eligible for free school meals in each year from 2006 to 2015 are shown in the table below. YearNumber of pupils on roll (4)Number of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals (4)% of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals2006 (1)103,8255,8515.62007 (1)102,7995,5945.42008 (1)102,0975,5065.42009 (2)103,1096,4586.32010 (2)103,7067,2967.02011 (2)104,4298,3048.02012 (2)104,95010,1639.72013 (3)106,32010,2099.62014 (3)107,53610,4569.72015 (3)108,59010,92810.1   Source: School CensusNotes:   1. Includes state funded primary and secondary schools.2. Includes state funded primary, secondary and special schools.3. Includes state funded primary, secondary and special schools and pupil referral units.4. All figures include full time and part time pupils of all ages who are sole or dual main registrations.5. Figures are as at January of each given year.

Academies: West Sussex

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the (a) budget and (b) pupil number was for each academy school in the county of West Sussex in each year from 2005-06 to 2014-15.

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the (a) budget and (b) pupil number was for each voluntary controlled school in the county of West Sussex in each year from 2005-06 to 2014-15.

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the (a) budget and (b) pupil number was for each foundation school in the county of West Sussex in each year from 2005-06 to 2014-15.

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the (a) budget and (b) pupil number was for each voluntary aided school in the county of West Sussex in each year from 2005-06 to 2014-15.

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the (a) budget and (b) pupil number was for each community school in the county of West Sussex in each year from 2005-06 to 2014-15.

Edward Timpson: In response to PQs 9189-9193, please find attached an Excel workbook that details the individual school and academy budgets and pupil numbers for all providers in the West Sussex local authority area. These have been sourced wherever possible up to 2012-2013 from published section 251 statements, which detail local authority spending at school level and from published school and academy allocations for 2013-14 and 2014-15.   Since 2005-06 there has been an increasing number of providers who are funded centrally as they join the academy programme. It should be noted that academies are funded using the same local authority formulae as an LA maintained school, and any differences locally reflect the demographic profile and population of the school or academy. 



Budget and pupil number data
(Excel SpreadSheet, 314.62 KB)

Free Schools: Admissions

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what (a) amount and (b) proportion of the capital funding budget for new school places was allocated to free schools in each of the last five years.

Edward Timpson: The Department has an overall capital settlement from which we fund the creation of new school places, the maintenance of the school estate, and system reform. In recent years we have funded five programmes that have in some way supported the creation of new places. When setting budgets we assess the requirements for each of these programmes which vary from year-to-year depending on, for example, demographic changes or the pace and price of construction. The table below shows the amount we have spent on or budgeted for each of these programmes over the last five years: (All values £m)2011-12 Actuals2012-13 Actuals2013-14 Actuals2014-15 Budgets2015-16 BudgetsBasic Need1,4001,3127988001,100Targeted Basic Need--229551-Demographic Growth Capital Fund24382353-Priority Schools Building Programme--876031040Free Schools5027570411941072Total1,4741,6251,8413,2013,212

Academies

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average number of decisions on Academy Orders her Department has taken each week in the last three years; and what estimate she has made of the average number of hours taken each week to make such decisions.

Edward Timpson: Information on the total number of academy orders can be found by reviewing the published information on open academies and academies in the pipeline. This is available online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/open-academies-and-academy-projects-in-development   The Department has made no assessment of the average time involved in making Academy Order decisions. Decision-making is part of a larger process for opening academies and it would not be feasible to isolate the time required for each Academy Order.

Department for Education: Carbon Emissions

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much her Department spent on carbon offsetting in each of the last three years; and to which companies payments in respect of carbon offsetting were made in each such year.

Nick Gibb: The Department for Education spent the following amounts on carbon offsetting in each of the last three years, and with the following companies:   YearAmountCompany2012-13£835South Pole Carbon Asset Management.2013-14£120EDF Trading Ltd.2014-15£896South Pole Carbon Asset Management.   The department undertakes its carbon offsetting by purchasing Certified Emissions Reduction (CER) credits through the Government Carbon Offsetting Facility.

Free School Meals

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of pupils were eligible for free school meals in (a) state, (b) academy, (c) free, (d) faith and (e) private schools in each of the last five years.

Mr Sam Gyimah: Information on the number of pupils known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals in state-funded schools (including academies and free schools) is published in the “Schools, pupils and their characteristics: January 2015” Statistical First Release[1], and previous versions of this release[2]. Pupils attending independent (private) schools cannot be eligible for free school meals.  [1] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics-january-2015[2] https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-school-and-pupil-numbers

Department for Education: Consultants

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what policy evaluations have been carried out by external organisations for her Department and its agencies in each financial year since 2010-11; whether the output of those evaluations was published; which organisation carried out each such evaluation; and what the value of each contract to provide that evaluation was.

Nick Gibb: The Department for Education commissions external organisations to carry out policy research and evaluation. All of the commissioned research and evaluation feeds into policy strategy, development and refinement. The department follows Government Social Research (GSR) commissioning and publication protocol and ensures research and evaluation products are made publicly available and released promptly upon completion. Between 2010/11 and 2014/15, the department spent a total of £71.1 million on policy research and evaluation undertaken by external organisations. The department predicts an expenditure of c.£12,000,000 on policy research and evaluation in 2015/16. The information below covers all research and evaluation commissioned by the Department for Education and its agencies. The agencies are: the National College for Teaching and Leadership, the Standards and Testing Agency and the Education Funding Agency. Since May 2010 the department’s commissioned work and the work commissioned by its agencies has been published on the following websites: Department for Education (March 2010-March 2013): http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130403150653/https://www.education.gov.uk/publications/RSG/AllRsgPublications/Page1Department of Education: (Since April 2013): www.gov.uk/government/publications?keywords=&publication_filter_option=research-and-analysis&departments%5B%5D=department-for-educationCompleted policy evaluation and research carried out by departmental agencies can also be found at: www.gov.uk/government/publications The department also funded three research centres until March 2013. The evaluations and research carried out by the research centres can be found on the following websites: Childhood Wellbeing Research Centre: www.cwrc.ac.uk/resources/773.htmlCentre for Understanding Behaviour Change: www.bristol.ac.uk/cubec/researchreports/Centre for Analysis of Youth Transitions: www.ifs.org.uk/search/publications?centres%5B0%5D=325&sorting=newest Details of which organisation carried out the research or evaluation studies can be found on the front page of each report.

Academies

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many officials her Department employs to administer the (a) academies and (b) free schools programme.

Edward Timpson: At the end of August 2015 the Department for Education employed: 281 full-time equivalent staff in its Academies Group and the Schools Commissioners Group working to open new academies and support them once opened; along with their administrative and corporate functions within the department.101 full-time equivalent staff in its Free Schools Group and the Schools Commissioners Group working to assess free school applications, working with successful applicants as they prepare to open their schools and supporting the schools once opened; along with their administrative and corporate functions within the department.

Academies

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the total held in reserves by academies in each year since 2010.

Edward Timpson: Academies are independent organisations and hold reserves, both are working capital to manage day-to-day commitments, and to build funds for longer term planning, as they cannot borrow commercially.   The reserves held by academies are included in the Education Funding Agency’s published accounts for financial years 2012-13 and 2013-14. These reserves are shown in the Statement of Financial Position and are entitled the revaluation reserve and charitable fund. The Education Funding Agency does not have comparable figures for financial year 2011-12 and earlier years. At present, the figures for 2014-15 are not ready for publication. The accounts for financial year 2013-14, that also show balances for financial year 2012-13 are published online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/efa-annual-report-and-accounts-1-april-2013-to-31-march-2014

International Baccalaureate

Jeremy Lefroy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many schools in England offer the International Baccalaureate.

Nick Gibb: It is not possible to identify how many schools offer the International Baccalaureate. However, the Department for Education publishes information on schools that entered students for the different aspects of the International Baccalaureate in a particular year as part of the school performance tables. This information is available online at:www.education.gov.uk/schools/performance/download_data.html (2014_16-18_Underlying_Data_Institution_Level.zip (Tables 6 to 9)).

Supply Teachers: Pensions

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many supply teachers are unable to pay into the Teacher's Pension Fund because their employers have not been granted Accepted Employer Status; and whether she has invited such employers to seek Accepted Employer Status.

Nick Gibb: Data on the number of supply teachers who are unable to pay into the Teacher's Pension Scheme (TPS) because they are contracted through private supply agencies is not collected. Teacher supply agencies are not eligible to be scheme employers in the TPS as they do not employ the teachers they supply. The employer/employee relationship is important because the employer is responsible for meeting a number of obligations, not least of which is to pay both member and employer contributions to the scheme.

Department for Education: UK Membership of EU

Mr David Nuttall: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many officials in her Department are engaged in research into the effects of the UK leaving the EU.

Nick Gibb: The government is focused on delivering a successful renegotiation; it believes it can and will succeed in reforming and renegotiating our relationship with the EU and campaigning to keep the UK in the EU on that basis. Departments are appropriately resourced to support the government’s priorities in Europe.

Department for Education: UK Membership of EU

Mr David Nuttall: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which external organisations she has met to discuss the consequences of the UK leaving the EU in each of the last three years; and how many times she has met each such organisation.

Nick Gibb: The government is focused on delivering a successful renegotiation; it believes it can and will succeed in reforming and renegotiating our relationship with the EU and campaigning to keep the UK in the EU on that basis. Ministers meet with a range of external organisations to discuss the government's objectives in Europe. Details of ministerial meetings with external organisations are published quarterly.

Department for Education: UK Membership of EU

Mr David Nuttall: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which external organisations officials in her Department have met to discuss the consequences of the UK leaving the EU in each of the last three years; and how many meetings such officials have had with each such organisation.

Nick Gibb: The government is focused on delivering a successful renegotiation; it believes it can and will succeed in reforming and renegotiating our relationship with the EU and campaigning to keep the UK in the EU on that basis. Officials regularly meet with a range of external organisations to discuss the government's objectives in Europe.

Schools: Admissions

Mrs Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many secondary and primary school pupils in England are educated by a local authority other than the one in which they reside.

Nick Gibb: Data from the January 2015 school census shows the number of primary and secondary school pupils who were educated at a school within a different local authority to the one in which they resided. This information is available in tables 12a and 12b of the ‘schools, pupils and their characteristics: January 2015’ statistical first release, published online at: www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics-january-2015

Leader of the House

Electronic Voting

Mark Tami: To ask the Leader of the House, what discussions he had with (a) members of the House of Commons Commission and (b) hon. Members on the use of electronic devices to record Members' votes before his oral statement of 2 July 2015 on English votes on English laws, Official Report, column 1647.

Chris Grayling: Following my appointment as Leader of the House of Commons and before my oral statement on 2 July, I discussed with the House authorities both the investigation into electronic recording of votes that been taking place since October 2014, and the trial that had been held in March 2015. The change to electronic recording of votes had been planned before the announcement of the Government's proposals for English votes for English laws.

Leader of the House of Commons: Carbon Emissions

Philip Davies: To ask the Leader of the House, how much his Office spent on carbon offsetting in each of the last three years; and to which companies payments in respect of carbon offsetting were made in each such year.

Chris Grayling: The Office of the Leader of the House of Commons is part of the Cabinet Office. Our answer is included in the response by the Minister for the Cabinet Office.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Video on Demand: Disability

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment he has made of progress in making available access services to on-demand broadcasting content for people with sensory loss since 2013.

Mr Edward Vaizey: We have been monitoring progress of the provision of access services for Video on Demand (VoD) content since 2013 through engagement with the Authority for Television on Demand (ATVOD), platform operators and content providers.

Video on Demand: Disability

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions he has had with providers about improving the availability of access services to on-demand broadcasting content for people with sensory loss.

Mr Edward Vaizey: Officials are undertaking a series of meetings with content providers, platform operators and other participants in the supply chain of Video on Demand services, to better understand why the provision of access services for on demand content is limited. The information derived from these meetings will be used to develop a target that we would expect to see reached by mid-2016.

Telecommunications: Fees and Charges

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment his Department has made of the costs charged by telecommunications companies for telephone calls to repair broken services for elderly and vulnerable people.

Mr Edward Vaizey: While there are no sector–specific rules determining which telephone numbers communication providers offer to customers for reporting broken services, in practice many providers already offer no-cost routes for reporting line faults. These include 151 and Freephone (0800) numbers. Following recent Ofcom changes, 0800 freephone numbers are now free to call from mobiles as well as from fixed lines. On the issue of elderly and vulnerable people, Ofcom requires providers to allow disabled customers who are dependent on the telephone to have access to priority fault repair services. Ofcom also requires that they can nominate third parties to be able to contact in the event of non-payment of a bill.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport: Consultants

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what policy evaluations have been carried out by external organisations for his Department and its agencies in each financial year since 2010-11; whether the output of those evaluations was published; which organisation carried out each such evaluation; and what the value of each contract to provide that evaluation was.

Mr Edward Vaizey: Since 2010-11 the Department has commissioned the following policy evaluations from external organisations. TitlePublishedOrganisationValueMeta-evaluation of the impacts and legacy of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic GamesYesGrant Thornton£1,400,000The UK's National Broadband Scheme - an independent evaluation reportYesOxera£117,000 The Department does not hold information on evaluations commissioned by its arm’s length bodies centrally.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport: UK Membership of EU

Mr David Nuttall: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, which external organisations he has met to discuss the consequences of the UK leaving the EU in each of the last three years; and how many times he has met each such organisation.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The Government is focused on delivering a successful renegotiation: it believes it can and will succeed in reforming and renegotiating our relationship with the EU and campaigning to keep the UK in the EU on that basis. The Secretary of State regularly meets with a range of external organisations to discuss the Government's objectives in Europe. Details of Ministerial meetings with external organisations are published quarterly.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport: UK Membership of EU

Mr David Nuttall: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many officials in his Department are engaged in research into the effects of the UK leaving the EU.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The Government is focused on delivering a successful renegotiation: it believes it can and will succeed in reforming and renegotiating our relationship with the EU and campaigning to keep the UK in the EU on that basis. Departments are appropriately resourced to support the Government’s priorities in Europe.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport: UK Membership of EU

Mr David Nuttall: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, which external organisations officials in his Department have met to discuss the consequences of the UK leaving the EU in each of the last three years; and how many meetings such officials have had with each such organisation.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The Government is focused on delivering a successful renegotiation: it believes it can and will succeed in reforming and renegotiating our relationship with the EU and campaigning to keep the UK in the EU on that basis. Officials regularly meet with a range of external organisations to discuss the Government's objectives in Europe.

Local Press: Tax Allowances

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what progress he has made on introduction of tax relief for local newspapers.

Mr Edward Vaizey: Government is consulting on the introduction of a business rates relief to support local newspapers in England as they adapt to new technology and changing circumstances. The consultation will close on 30 September 2015. Further details can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/the-case-for-a-business-rates-relief-for-local-newspapers

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Livestock: Exports

Mr Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will bring forward legislative proposals to amend the Harbours, Docks and Piers Clauses Act 1847 to allow individual ports in the UK to refuse to export live farm animals.

George Eustice: The Harbour Docks and Piers Clauses Act 1847 aims to ensure that ports are available to all without discrimination. It would not be an appropriate legal instrument for port authorities to use to introduce an effective barrier to what is a legal trade. This has been demonstrated by a series of High Court judgements , the most recent being the High Court judgment in Barco de Vapor BV and others v Thanet District Council 2014 EWHC 490.

Tea

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate she has made of the value of UK tea sales in the last financial year; what plans she has to return to China to promote British tea sales in that country; and if she will assess the value for money of previous such visits.

George Eustice: In 2014 UK retail sales of tea were worth £663 million and exports were worth £116 million. Tea exports increased by 16% to £59.4 million between January and June 2015, compared with January to June 2014.Exports of food and drink are a Defra priority. British food and drink exports to China reached a record level to £287 million last year, with tea exports increasing by 583% to £2.2 million in January-June 2015 compared with the same period in 2014. The Secretary of State will be championing the best of British in China this November, including tea, and further build on the strong relationships formed with her counterparts in China during her January visit.

Game: Animal Breeding

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the two papers prepared for publication as part of the review into cage-based breeding systems have been submitted for review; and what the outcome of such a review was.

George Eustice: These two papers are still being prepared by the research team. Once that is complete, they will be submitted for publication in peer reviewed journals.

Animal Feed

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the prevalence of medicated grit on grouse moors and its potential long-term effects.

George Eustice: The prescribing of wormers in grouse grit is permitted under the rules of the prescribing cascade in the Veterinary Medicines Regulations 2013. Use of medicines in animals under the cascade is down to the professional judgement of the prescribing veterinary surgeon, taking into consideration the impact on the animals concerned, in response to a specific animal welfare need. Defra does not specifically monitor such use.   A statutory withdrawal period when using medicines under the cascade has to be applied and that means that the medicated grit must be removed from the grouse moors at least 28 days prior to the shooting of the birds. Any known contravention should be reported to the Veterinary Medicines Directorate who will consider whether enforcement action is required.

Game: Animal Breeding

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to Objective 7 of the study to provide scientific evidence on cage-based breeding (a) whether and (b) how the best practice recommendations have been disseminated.

George Eustice: The results have been presented at the 2nd Avian Expert Group at AHVLA Weybridge and the Scottish Gamebird Conference and an abstract was presented at an international conference on Welfare Assessment at Farm and Group Level.The research team are currently considering further knowledge exchange activities.

Bees: Insects

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to support bees and pollinators.

Rory Stewart: Defra recognises the importance of pollinators, including bees, and their value to food security and sustaining the natural environment. This is why Defra published the National Pollinator Strategy in November 2014: www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-pollinator-strategy-for-bees-and-other-pollinators-in-england. The Strategy is a ten-year plan to bring about the best possible conditions for pollinators to flourish across all land types. It identifies specific policy and evidence actions for government and others, and actions that everyone can take to help expand food, shelter and nest sites. The Strategy also seeks to address key gaps in our understanding about the status of pollinators.To raise public awareness a ‘Call to Action’, “Bees’ Needs: Food and a Home” (www.beesneeds.org.uk) was launched in July 2014. This is a simple message on the essential needs of pollinators and how to fulfil them.

Bees: Neonicotinoids

Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of trends in the UK bee population since the introduction of the ban on neonicotinoids.

George Eustice: In December 2014, Defra published draft statistics showing long term trends in UK bee populations in our UK and England Biodiversity Indicators. They showed that while some species had become more widespread, a greater number had become less widespread between 1980 and 2010.[1]   Defra is working with the research community to improve and update this indicator on pollinators. However, there is currently insufficient data to provide an assessment of trends since the introduction of the restrictions on neonicotinoids in December 2013. Moreover, national trends respond to a range of positive and negative pressures in the environment. Targeted field research is more likely to provide evidence on the effects of neonicotinoids and studies of this type are ongoing.  [1] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/england-biodiversity-indicators; http://jncc.defra.gov.uk/page-1824

New Covent Garden Market

Chris Heaton-Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will publish the Final Business Case, approved by the Government in March 2012, for the redevelopment of the New Covent Garden Market site.

Rory Stewart: The Final Business Case (FBC) for the development was approved by Treasury in March 2012. It includes commercially sensitive information that is unsuitable for release. A decision to withhold the entire document was taken due to concerns over potential harm to commercial interests and the interests of government internal policy formulation.

Insecticides

Kate Hollern: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 29 June 2015 to Question 2828, if she will publish the advice she has received from (a) the UK Expert Committee on Pesticides, (b) her Department's Chief Scientific Adviser and (c) experts from the Chemicals Regulation Directorate of the Health and Safety Executive on the use of clothianidin, imidacloprid and thiamethoxam and other neonicotinoid pesticides.

George Eustice: The advice of the UK Expert Committee on Pesticides on recent applications for emergency authorisation of the use of clothianidin and thiamethoxam on oilseed rape was published online at: www.pesticides.gov.uk/guidance/industries/pesticides/advisory-groups/acp/ACP-News/ECP-Letters-and-Communications.   The advice of Defra’s Chief Scientific Adviser will also be published online in the next few days. Copies will be placed in the House of Commons Library.

Bovine Tuberculosis

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the remains of badgers killed on roads are routinely tested for the presence of bovine tuberculosis.

George Eustice: Badgers killed on roads in England are not routinely tested for the presence of bovine tuberculosis, as to do so would not be cost effective. The Animal and Plant Health Agency does, however, carry out targeted testing of dead badgers around bovine tuberculosis outbreaks of unknown origin in the Low Risk Area.   Testing of badgers between 1998 and 2005 via the Randomised Badger Culling Trial and road traffic accident surveys provided evidence of the typical prevalence of TB in badgers in areas of high incidence of TB in cattle. TB was found in around one third of all badgers in these areas.

Sheep: Preston

Mr Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many sheep there are on farmlands in Preston constituency.

George Eustice: I am unable to provide the number of sheep in the Preston constituency as to do so would go against the Code of Practice for Official Statistics and the Data Protection Act. I can however say that there were 15,535 sheep in the Preston local authority area in 2013, which is the latest published data.

Agriculture: Apprentices

Angela Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many meetings (a) she and (b) ministers in her Department have had with Bright Crop to discuss apprenticeships in the agricultural sector in the last six months.

George Eustice: Neither the Secretary of State nor I have met Bright Crop to discuss apprenticeships in the last six months. However, I have met them previously and we are involving them in developing the skills and careers elements of our long-term Food and Farming Plan and have invited them to one of the regional events we are holding to gather views and evidence on the future of the sector.

Birds: Conservation

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to (a) reduce and (b) control the population of (i) gulls and (ii) black-backed gulls.

Rory Stewart: Gulls, like all wild birds, are protected by provisions in the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. There is however an established system of licensing to allow for the control or disturbance of certain wild birds, such as the herring gull or lesser black backed gull, for specific reasons, such as preserving public health and safety.This licensing regime, administered by Natural England within England, provides an effective structure within which authorised persons (i.e. landowner or occupier) and local authorities can take appropriate action to tackle problems they are experiencing; it provides a range of methods that can be used to manage birds humanely and permits adult population control, nest clearance and egg control.In addition to the licensing provisions, effective long-term management requires the elimination or reduction of readily accessible food and roosting/nesting sites. A co-ordinated approach to waste disposal by local authorities, businesses, residents and visitors will make a valuable contribution to relieving gull problems.

Air Pollution: Ellesmere Port and Neston

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she plans to take to improve air quality in Ellesmere Port and Neston constituency.

Rory Stewart: The former Ellesmere Port and Neston Borough Council put in place an Air Quality Management Area and an Air Quality Action Plan covering Ellesmere Port in 2007 to address nitrogen dioxide (NO2) exceedances. Defra awarded £40,200 from the 2014 Air Quality Grant Fund to the Cheshire West and Chester Unitary Authority, which now has responsibility for Ellesmere Port, to develop a low emissions strategy that covers the borough and will make links to Action Plans and Local Transport Plans. The Government published plans on Saturday 12 September to reduce NO2 emissions in the UK.

Agriculture: Policy

Dr Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much importance is accorded to food security in the determination of the Government's agricultural policy.

George Eustice: Food security considerations form an important part of agricultural policy, and is built on the combination of a strong food production base in the UK with access to a wide variety of markets and an open, rules-based world trading system. We are developing a long-term plan to boost the competitiveness of the British food and farming industry and maximise its contribution to economic growth.   The Government spends approximately £450million a year on agri-food research to address the challenges posed by food security. This is coordinated by UK funders via the Global Food Security Programme. The Agri-Tech Strategy (£160million investment) aims to make the UK a world leader in agricultural technology, innovation and sustainability. The Strategy is industry-led and driven by a Leadership Council which brings together Government departments, farming and industry as well as the agricultural science community.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: UK Membership of EU

Mr David Nuttall: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many officials in her Department are engaged in research into the effects of the UK leaving the EU.

George Eustice: The Government is focused on delivering a successful renegotiation. We believe we can and will succeed in reforming and renegotiating our relationship with the EU and campaigning to keep the UK in the EU on that basis. Departments are appropriately resourced to support the Government’s priorities in Europe.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: UK Membership of EU

Mr David Nuttall: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which external organisations officials in her Department have met to discuss the consequences of the UK leaving the EU in each of the last three years; and how many meetings such officials have had with each such organisation.

Mr David Nuttall: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which external organisations she has met to discuss the consequences of the UK leaving the EU in each of the last three years; and how many times she has met each such organisation.

George Eustice: The Government is focused on delivering a successful renegotiation. We believe we can and will succeed in reforming and renegotiating our relationship with the EU and campaigning to keep the UK in the EU on that basis. Both the Secretary of State and officials regularly meet with a range of external organisations to discuss the Government's objectives in Europe. Details of Ministerial meetings with external organisations are published quarterly.

BBC: Met Office

Mr Ben Bradshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what representations she has made to the BBC on the potential implications of its decision no longer to use the Met Office's forecasts and expertise on resilience to flooding; and what response she has received to those representations.

Rory Stewart: This is a commercial matter between the Met Office and BBC. This decision will not affect our work to reduce flood risk or our free flood warnings service. Defra, the Environment Agency and the Flood Forecasting Centre will continue to work closely with the Met Office to forecast rainfall impacts and the risk of flooding.

Horses: Animal Welfare

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent estimate she has made of the number of abandoned or neglected horses.

George Eustice: No recent estimate has been made, however estimates published by horse welfare charities in 2014 suggested there might be up to 3,500 horses a year in England. The Animals Act 1971 was amended earlier this year to make it easier to deal with abandoned or fly-grazing horses in England.

Coastal Erosion and Floods

Mr Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to page 16 of Reducing the risks of flooding and coastal erosion: An investment plan, published by her Department in December 2014, what progress the Environment Agency has reported on the number and location of projects starting in development, construction and completing as well as the reasons for delay.

Rory Stewart: One hundred and seven projects are in development this financial year. The locations of these projects are shown in the published flood and coastal erosion risk management investment programme 2015 – 2021:   https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/programme-of-flood-and-coastal-erosion-risk-management-schemes.   The Environment Agency has reported that between 1 April and 30 June 2015, 19 projects started construction in East England, East Midlands, North West, South East, South West and Yorkshire and Humber Office of National Statistics (ONS) regions and 26 projects completed construction in East England, East Midlands, North West, South East, South West, West Midlands and Yorkshire and Humber ONS regions.   One project in the Environment Agency’s national priority programme reported delays. The start of work on Jacks Key Reservoir, Darwen was delayed due to detailed site investigation showing that the project is more complex than originally anticipated. Construction is now expected to start on site in early 2016.

Hunting Act 2004 (Exempt Hunting) (Amendment) Order 2015

Angela Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department showed the Countryside Alliance the Hunting Act 2004 (Exempt Hunting) (Amendment) Order 2015 in draft prior to publication; and what representations she received from that organisation on the matters covered by that Order prior to its publication.

Rory Stewart: Defra followed normal practice for developing the Hunting Act 2004 (Exempt Hunting) (Amendment) Order 2015. Defra has received representations from a number of organisations about the repeal of the Hunting Act 2004. It received no representations from the Countryside Alliance on the Hunting Act 2004 (Exempt Hunting) (Amendment) Order 2015 prior to its publication.

Department for Energy and Climate Change

Carbon Emissions

Matthew Pennycook: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, when she expects a fully functioning carbon market to be operational.

Andrea Leadsom: The EU has an effective carbon market in the form of the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS), though an oversupply of allowances in the system means it is not delivering the degree of low carbon investment it should. The Government worked hard with European partners to secure agreement to the EU ETS Market Stability Reserve to address this, and welcomes the Commission’s recent proposals for further reform of EU ETS from 2021.While a single global carbon market is unrealistic in the foreseeable future, over forty countries and sub-national jurisdictions, covering around 12% of global emissions, are implementing carbon pricing policies. The Government is supporting linking between these bottom-up initiatives by developing an international framework through the UNFCCC, through political engagement, for example the G7, and International Climate Fund projects. Over time these linked schemes should converge towards a single global market.

Energy: Taxation

Matthew Pennycook: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps she is taking to ensure that the effect of existing green and social levies is more progressively distributed across the income scale.

Andrea Leadsom: The Government is committed to keeping energy bills as low as possible as part of a long-term, coherent and affordable policy framework. As part of this we will continue to improve targeting of support to those most in need.The Government already has a number of policies in place to ensure that energy and climate change policies help those that need it most. In particular, the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) specifically supports low income households and those at risk of fuel poverty with measures to improve the energy efficiency of their homes. This generates a net financial benefit over the long term, and also helps ensure that energy bills are lower than they would otherwise have been. ECO is estimated to support around 260,000 households on low incomes or in low income areas each year to March 2017.Furthermore, the Warm Home Discount (WHD) generates the dual benefits of supporting over 2 million low income households each year with a £140 discount on their energy costs, and acting as a redistributive mechanism to help those least able to pay.-

Fracking

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether her Department discussed (a) the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs report, Shale Gas: Rural Economy Impacts, published in redacted form in March 2014 and (b) the timing of that report's release, in either redacted or full form, with Cuadrilla.

Andrea Leadsom: The Department did not discuss this report, or its timing, with Cuadrilla. This was a draft internal paper and is not analytically robust. It refers to data from overseas studies which cannot be used to predict impacts in the UK with any degree of reliability. The UK has a robust regulatory regime that will ensure that the exploration and production of shale gas can be carried out in a safe and environmentally sound manner. We are committed to ensuring that communities feel the benefits of fracking. Investment in shale could reach £33 billion and support 64,000 jobs in the oil, gas, construction, engineering and chemical sectors. That would be good news for the whole of the UK economy.

Carbon Emissions: Research

David T. C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what studies examining the effect of carbon dioxide on temperature and climate change have received financial support from her Department in the last five years.

Andrea Leadsom: During the last five years, the Department has co-funded, with Defra, the Met Office Hadley Centre Climate Programme, which delivers scientific evidence on climate variability and change. The effect of carbon dioxide on temperature and climate change is one of the many research topics covered by the programme. More information can be found on the programme website: http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/publicsector/climate-programme.In addition, the Department has, since 2009, financially supported two separate phases of the AVOID Research Programme (2009-2013 and 2014-2016), both of which have involved rigorous examination of the effect of carbon dioxide on temperature and climate change. Reports summarising the analyses are available on the programme website: www.avoid.uk.net.

Department for Energy and Climate Change: Policy

Oliver Colvile: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, when she plans to publish her Department's new strategy and policy statement.

Andrea Leadsom: We plan to consult later this year on a new draft of the Strategy and Policy Statement which will take account of the Competition and Market Authority’s energy market investigation and their proposed remedies. We expect to publish the statement in 2016.

Gas Fired Power Stations: Construction

Stephen Metcalfe: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps the Government is taking to encourage investors to develop and construct new gas plant such as the Gateway Energy Centre.

Andrea Leadsom: Gas generation currently forms an integral part of the UK’s electricity mix and it will continue to do so over the coming decades as we decarbonise our electricity system; it is the cleanest fossil fuel and is one of the most flexible and reliable sources of electricity.The Department’s analysis [1] suggests significant investment in new gas plant is needed, in part to replace older coal, gas and nuclear plant as it retires.The Gas Generation Strategy [2], published in December 2012, set out measures to support investment in new gas plant. Of particular importance is the introduction of a capacity market last year which provides all reliable capacity, including gas, with secure revenues. The Government believes the capacity market provides the necessary financial incentives to ensure new gas plant are brought forward as and when needed.[1] Each year DECC publishes updated energy projections, analysing and projecting future energy demand and supply (including from gas generation) and greenhouse gas emissions in the UK. The latest projections are available via https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/energy-and-emissions-projections 2] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/gas-generation-strategy

Renewable Energy: Feed-in Tariffs

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether the feed-in tariff scheme will continue beyond January 2016.

Andrea Leadsom: The FITs Review consultation published on 27 August 2015 sets out proposals for the future of the Feed-in Tariff scheme.The consultation includes proposals to place the scheme on a more affordable footing to ensure that the impact of the levy control framework on consumer bills is carefully managed; closure of the scheme is also presented as an option. A final decision on the future of the scheme will only be taken after we have considered the responses to that consultation.

Nuclear Power Stations: Security

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps her Department has taken to protect nuclear power stations from attacks carried out using unmanned drones.

Andrea Leadsom: The Department for Energy and Climate Change has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Solar Power: Feed-in Tariffs

Julie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment she has made of the effects of the proposal to reduce the feed-in tariff payments for solar energy on (a) the UK solar power industry, (b) employment in the sector and (c) the cost and accessibility of solar power.

Andrea Leadsom: The Department for Energy and Climate Change has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Environment Protection

Oliver Colvile: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what support the Government is providing for early stage innovation in the low carbon sector.

Andrea Leadsom: The Government is expected to directly spend approximately £1.3billion on low carbon innovation (research development and demonstration) in this spending review period (2011-15). This support is coordinated through the Low Carbon Innovation Coordination Group1 (LCICG).Support beyond the end of this financial year is dependent on the outcome of the Spending Review.1 http://www.lowcarboninnovation.co.uk/.

Biofuels: Carbon Emissions

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of biomass energy crops in delivering carbon reductions as set out in the UK Bioenergy Strategy.

Andrea Leadsom: The Department for Energy and Climate Change has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Renewable Energy: EU Law

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what recent assessment her Department has made of the capacity of the UK to meet the 20 per cent renewable target for 2020 set out in the EU Renewable Energy Directive.

Andrea Leadsom: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Greenwich and Woolwich on 6 June 2015 to Question 4832:http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2015-06-30/4832/.

Renewable Energy: Subsidies

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate her Department has made of the cost to the public purse of subsidies paid to the (a) solar and (b) wind power industries in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement.

Andrea Leadsom: The Department for Energy and Climate Change has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Biofuels: Subsidies

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate her Department has made of the total subsidy paid for biomass production for the purposes of power generation in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement.

Andrea Leadsom: The Department for Energy and Climate Change has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Biofuels: Imports

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate her Department has made of the value of biomass imported for the purposes of power generation in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement.

Andrea Leadsom: The Department for Energy and Climate Change has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Attorney General

Attorney General: Carbon Emissions

Philip Davies: To ask the Attorney General, how much the Law Officers' Departments spent on carbon offsetting in each of the last three years; and to which companies payments in respect of carbon offsetting were made in each such year.

Robert Buckland: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has participated in carbon offsetting resulting from air travel. However, it has not kept central records of expenditure in respect of carbon offsetting in the last three years and to provide this information would incur a disproportionate cost.The Government Legal Department has spent £171.28 on carbon offsetting over the last 3 financial years. In 2012-13, £42.13 was paid South Pole Holding AG and in 2013-14 £129.15 was paid to Carbon Footprint Ltd. The companies paid were those who won the e-auctions to provide Certified Emissions Reductions (CERs) held by Crown Commercial Services in each of the years identified.The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has spent £153 towards carbon offsetting over the last three years through Crown Commercial Services carbon offsetting arrangements. In 2013, £79 was paid for Fujian Wind power for 116 CERS (Certified Emission Reductions) and £74 to EDF for 104 CERS in January 2014.The Attorney General’s Office and HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate have not incurred any expenditure on carbon offsetting over the past three years.

Homicide: Trials

Philip Davies: To ask the Attorney General, in how many murder trials the issue of the loss of control of the defendant was raised in each year since 2010; and if he will estimate in how many such trials (a) female and (b) male defendants were not convicted of murder on those grounds.

Robert Buckland: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) does hold records identifying the number of defendants prosecuted, at the Crown Court, where the Principal Offence has been identified as homicide. However, it does not maintain a separate central record of defendants prosecuted specifically for murder or of cases where the issue of loss of control has been raised as a live issue. This information could only be obtained by examining CPS case files, which would incur a disproportionate cost.

Wales Office

Public Footpaths: Ynys Môn

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what the reasons are for the diversion of the Welsh Coast footpath inland around Plas Newydd on Anglesey; and whether the National Trust requested that diversion.

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, if he will make an assessment of the extent to which the Welsh Coast footpath is (a) as close to the coast as is practical and (b) not unnecessarily diverted inland because of objections from landowners.

Alun Cairns: The Wales Office does not hold this information as it relates to matters that are devolved and the responsibility of the Welsh Government. The Wales Coast Path has been developed by the Welsh Government in partnership with Natural Resources Wales, sixteen local authorities and two National Parks.

Wales Office: Carbon Emissions

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, how much his Department spent on carbon offsetting in each of the last three years; and to which companies payments in respect of carbon offsetting were made in each such year.

Alun Cairns: Nil. The Ministry of Justice deals with carbon offsetting on behalf of the Wales Office.

Wales Office: UK Membership of EU

Mr David Nuttall: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, how many officials in his Department are engaged in research into the effects of the UK leaving the EU.

Mr David Nuttall: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, which external organisations officials in his Department have met to discuss the consequences of the UK leaving the EU in each of the last three years; and how many meetings such officials have had with each such organisation.

Mr David Nuttall: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, which external organisations he has met to discuss the consequences of the UK leaving the EU in each of the last three years; and how many times he has met each such organisation.

Stephen Crabb: The Government is focused on delivering a successful renegotiation: it believes it can and will succeed in reforming and renegotiating our relationship with the EU and campaigning to keep the UK in the EU on that basis. Departments are appropriately resourced to support the Government’s priorities in Europe. Ministers and officials regularly meet with a range of external organisations to discuss the Government's objectives in Europe. Details of Ministerial meetings with external organisations are published quarterly.

Ministry of Justice

Courts: Closures

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the monthly running cost is of each court building which has been closed but not disposed of since May 2010.

Mr Shailesh Vara: The Department is committed to disposing of surplus property assets expeditiously and reducing holding costs. As of 4 September 2015 a total of 80 courts closed under the Court Estate Reform Programme have been sold attracting disposal receipts of £49.18m. The total cumulative gross benefits expected from the 2010 Court Estate Reform Programme are £152m, consisting of resource savings from court closures of £98m and gross capital proceeds of £54m from the sale of buildings. The disposal of surplus property assets is dependent on a number of factors, such as the market, potential future use, location and the fact that some are occupied in part by the police and local authorities which also make disposal difficult. Five of the closed court buildings which have not been disposed of are either under offer or on the market. Of those which have not yet been brought to the market, four court buildings have shared locations with the police which means the future of the building is tied in with the Police Station, one has a flying freehold issue and the other three were closed recently. We are working on bringing all of them to the market as soon as possible.There are temporary costs associated with making sure unused buildings are kept secure, protecting the fabric of the building and property rates payable to local councils. In addition, decommissioning the buildings to make them ready for sale results in some costs which cannot be disaggregated from the overall running costs. However, these are significantly lower than the costs of running the courts when open, which will have included estates costs, staffing costs and the cost of the judiciary. On average the estates running costs alone for these courts are now more than £4,000 lower per month, almost £50,000 less a year, than when the courts were open. That does not include the further substantial savings from staffing and judiciary costs.   Table: Monthly cost of each court building which has been closed since May 2010 but not yet disposed of as at 4 September 2015 Court buildingAverage monthly cost1, 5Alton Magistrates’ Court2£9,828Bracknell Magistrates’ Court£5,319Cirencester Magistrates’ Court£1,472Coleford Magistrates’ Court£1,561Keighley Magistrates’ Court (sitting at Bingley)£2,011Knutsford Crown Court2£9,274Liverpool Magistrates’ Court4Not availableLyndhurst Magistrates’ Court£1,783Oswestry Magistrates’ Court / County Court£2,269Pontefract Magistrates’ Court£1,957Spalding Magistrates’ Court2£3,909Totnes Magistrates’ Court3£790Towcester Magistrates’ Court3£445 Footnotes:1. Monthly cost based on financial year data 2014/15 (unless otherwise stated). Holding costs include rates, fuel and utilities, facilities management, telephony and other property costs.2. These courts closed in financial year 2014/15 and the stated average monthly cost is therefore based on the last three months of 2014/15. The stated costs for these 3 courts are abnormally high because maintenance costs are likely to include decommissioning costs which are incurred shortly after closure. It is not possible to strip out any decommissioning costs from this answer without incurring disproportionate costs.3. Monthly cost based on financial year data 2013/14 and 2014/15 in order to address accounting adjustments made in 2014/15.4. Liverpool (Dale Street) Magistrates' Court was integrated into the QEII Law Courts as of 30 June, creating a single centre for crime in the city of Liverpool.

Written Questions: Government Responses

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he plans to answer Question 3159 tabled on 18 June 2015 by the right hon. Member for Hammersmith.

Mr Shailesh Vara: Question 3159 was answered on 14 September 2015.

First-tier Tribunal: Leasehold

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many of each type of application listed on the HM Tribunals Service website were made to the Residential Property (First Tier) Tribunal for cases relating to leasehold in each of the last five years.

Mr Shailesh Vara: There are seven types of applications that can be made to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber - Residential Property). Leasehold dispute applications and leasehold enfranchisement applications relate to leasehold matters; the remaining five application types do not usually have any connection to leaseholds. Data specific to such cases relating to leasehold are not routinely published. The table below sets out the number of applications made to the Property Chamber for cases relating to leasehold in each of the last five years.Number of Leasehold ApplicationsNumber of Leasehold Enfranchisement Applications2009/1032162009/1031182010/1131222010/1132842011/1236452011/1235742012/1332992012/1338572013/1427732013/145069 Leasehold applications relate to Service Charges, Breach of Covenants, Administration Charges and Appointment of Managers. Leasehold Enfranchisement applications relate to the buying of a property’s freehold and extending a lease. As this data is drawn from internal data it has not undergone the usual quality assurance work associated with statistical publications.

Ministry of Justice: Procurement

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he expects the agreement with the new contractor on enforcing criminal fines to take effect.

Mr Shailesh Vara: The Full Business Case supporting the proposed outsourcing of compliance and enforcement services is currently going through a robust approvals process. A decision will be made following the completion of that process.

Ministry of Justice: Procurement

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether the successful bidder for the contract to enforce criminal fines will be under any obligation to (a) keep employing the (i) existing staff in Birmingham and (ii) 1600 staff in the UK and (b) maintain current staff numbers, wages and working conditions.

Mr Shailesh Vara: Under the proposed Compliance and Enforcement Services contract, all National Compliance and Enforcement Services staff within scope will be transferred to the new provider under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (“the TUPE Regulations”). Current terms and conditions of employment will also be transferred under the TUPE Regulations. This means that any new provider must consult with staff and the Trade Unions before any changes can be made to staff numbers or their terms and conditions.

Prisons: Unmanned Air Vehicles

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the risks posed by unmanned drones to prison security; and what steps he is taking to protect against drones dropping contraband material into prisons.

Andrew Selous: The National Offender Management Service continues to assess the developing risk posed by Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) or ‘drones’. All prisons have local contingency plans to respond to incidents including drones.The previous Government introduced legislation which prohibits the “projection” of any item into prison by any means, including by a drone. Prisons work with law enforcement to investigate and prosecute perpetrators, where appropriate.

Bullingdon Prison: Death and Self-harm

Mr Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many instances of (a) suicide, (b) other death and (c) self-inflicted injuries there have been in Bullingdon Prison in each of the last five years.

Andrew Selous: Annual information on deaths in each prison can be found here:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/449651/safety-in-custody-deaths-mar-15.xls (tables 1.16 to 1.18). Annual information on self-harm incidents in each prison is located here:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/449653/safety-in-custody-self-harm-dec-14.xls

Prisoners' Transfers: Young Offenders

Jenny Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people aged 18 years old in each Young Offenders Institution have been transferred to adult prisons in each month since January 2010.

Jenny Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people aged 18 to 20 in each Young Offenders Institution have been transferred to adult prisons in each month since January 2010.

Andrew Selous: This information is not available centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Magistrates' Courts: Fees and Charges

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the effect of changes in the cost of bringing a case to magistrates' courts on low income households' access to justice.

Mr Shailesh Vara: The Government is currently consulting on a proposal to increase certain court fees for civil proceedings in magistrates’ courts by 10% and has published an impact assessment alongside the consultation paper. A scheme of fee waivers or remissions exists to protect access to justice for those who cannot afford the pay the fee.

Magistrates' Courts: Northamptonshire

Tom Pursglove: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether the ownership of (a) Corby, (b) Kettering and (c) Wellingborough magistrates' courts is on a (i) freehold or (ii) leasehold basis.

Mr Shailesh Vara: Corby and Kettering magistrates’ courts are freehold buildings. Wellingborough magistrates’ court is occupied under a peppercorn lease.

Magistrates

Tom Pursglove: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many active magistrates in England were sitting each year between 2005 and 2015.

Mr Shailesh Vara: The annual figures, as calculated at the end of the financial year, for the number of serving magistrates, for each year between 2005 and 2015, are given in the table below. Although magistrates are generally assigned to one local bench, they have jurisdiction to sit across England and Wales and, as a result, we can only show figures for the two countries combined.The downturn in the number of magistrates, and the recruitment of new magistrates, are a natural consequence of falling workloads in the magistrates’ courts, due to falling crime and increased use of out of court disposals. Financial Year EndNumber of Serving Magistrates in England & Wales31 March 200528,30031 March 200628,86531 March 200729,84131 March 200829,41931 March 200929,27031 March 201028,60731 March 201126,96631 March 201225,10431 March 201323,38731 March 201421,39631 March 201519,634

Magistrates' Courts: Northamptonshire

Tom Pursglove: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what criteria his Department used to decide which magistrates' courts in Northamptonshire it proposes in its current consultation to keep open.

Mr Shailesh Vara: The estate principles used to decide which courts were included are detailed in the national consultation document. https://consult.justice.gov.uk/digital-communications/proposal-on-the-provision-of-court-and-tribunal-es

National Probation Service for England and Wales: Job Satisfaction

Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on morale amongst staff of recent reforms to the Probation Service.

Andrew Selous: We recognise that this has been a time of great change for probation staff and we have worked hard to ensure the probation workforce is effectively engaged and morale maintained. Staff in the National Probation Service (NPS) and Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) were provided with significant support both during and after the transition to the new probation structures. CRCs are now responsible for the welfare of the staff they employ, and we are monitoring the system closely through a robust contract management process, to ensure that performance levels are maintained.

Driving Offences: Mobile Phones

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have been successfully prosecuted for using a mobile phone while driving in each of the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Selous: The number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates’ courts and found guilty at all courts of the offence of using a mobile phone while driving in England and Wales, by month, in 2014 can be viewed in the table.Court proceedings data for 2015 are planned for publication in May 2016  



mobile phone while driving court statistics, 2014
(Excel SpreadSheet, 36 KB)

Prisons: Buildings

Maria Caulfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to modernise the prison estate; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Selous: As the Secretary of State made clear in his speech on 17 July, we want to make sure that we have a modern and effective prison estate that supports rehabilitative outcomes for offenders held in custody. We will set out our plans in due course.

Trials: Greater London

James Berry: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many cases in Crown and magistrates' courts in London were (a) dropped and (b) delayed in each of the last two years for which data is available; and what caused each such occurrence.

Mr Shailesh Vara: HMCTS collates data on the reasons for cracked and ineffective trials. A cracked trial is one that does not go ahead on the day of trial and does not require relisting, usually because the defendant pleads guilty or the prosecution withdraw or end the case. An ineffective trial is one that does not go ahead on the day and requires relisting at a later date. Data on cracked and ineffective trials and the reasons for them are published here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/437984/ccsq-statistics-january-march-2015-zip..zip The information is presented by Court and by Local Criminal Justice Board (LCJB). Sorting Column D will present the data appropriately grouped. London Crown Courts are under London Crown Courts LCJB, and London Magistrates Courts under Central London, East London, North East London, North London, North West London, South East London, South London, South West London and West London LCJBs. Discontinued trials also include those ended by the prosecution at an earlier stage. Reasons for adjourning prior to the start of a trial are not collated. The number of discontinuances in London can be found in the table below:  2013 – 142014 – 15Crown Court3,0593,624Magistrates’ Court43,16834,815 These data are taken from a case management information system and are not subject to the same level of checks as official statistics. Data provided has been extracted specifically to answer this question and has not been cross-referenced with case files.

Tribunals: Bridgend

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many of (a) youth, (b) adult, (c) civil and (d) family tribunal hearings were held at Bridgend Law Courts in each year since 2005; and if he will make a statement.

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many hearings were held in Bridgend Law Courts between 2010 and 2015.

Mr Shailesh Vara: Data for hearings at Bridgend Law Courts are presented in Table 1 below for each calendar year for each jurisdiction where data is available centrally. Hearings in different jurisdictions will take different lengths of time and cannot easily be compared. Complete data for 2015 is not yet available.Hearings at Bridgend Law Courts 2005 to 2015 1YearMagistrates’ Crime Adult2Magistrates’ Crime Youth2Magistrates’ Civil2 3Magistrates’ Enforcement4CivilFamily 2 Tribunals (SSCS)320144,2522593305391,2811,22925220135,0682263537021,4981,4122,16120128,3853553461,0911,4611,2791,12620118,2505253581,0191,8231,45791920107,0107812601,1431,9621,561-20098,0389634042,0382,010--2008----2,358--2007----2,306--2006----3,474--2005----3,711--Notes1 Magistrates’ data are only available from 2009, when the case management system was rolled out. Magistrates data counts cases with a hearing, a defendant may have more than one case heard in a single hearing and therefore each case will be counted2 Magistrates Civil cases can either be a single case or on occasions can be bulk listed and in such circumstances will only attract a single count when multiple claims will have been dealt with in the hearing3 The Family case management system has been in use in Bridgend since 2010. Data is not available centrally prior to this. Data for January to March 2015 is subject to change as data are revised.4 Bridgend sat SSCS cases as a satellite of Cardiff between April 2011 and May 2014.

Prisons: Standards

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to ensure that prisons provide an appropriate standard of (a) care and resources for prisoners and (b) safety for staff.

Andrew Selous: Healthcare for prisoners is commissioned by the NHS. The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) works closely with the NHS, local authorities, Public Health England and Public Health Wales to ensure that all prisoners receive equivalent health and social care provision to people in the community. NOMS is committed to running safe prisons, keeping the safety and wellbeing of all staff under constant review. Violence of any kind is unacceptable and NOMS is working hard to reduce the incidence of violence in prisons. All assaults are treated extremely seriously, and prisoner who commits an act of violence can expect to have action taken against them.

Missing Persons: Guardianship

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to his Department's response to its consultation on Guardianship of the Property and Affairs of Missing Persons, published on 23 March 2015, when his Department plans to publish the legislation proposed in that response.

Dominic Raab: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for York Outer on 15 June 2015, which can be found at http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2015-06-08/1400/.

Females: Offenders

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the extent of provision in the community for female offenders in (a) the North West, (b) Lancashire and (c) Pendle constituency.

Caroline Dinenage: Community provision for female offenders is provided by Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) and the National Probation Service (part of the National Offender Management Service). CRC contracts are managed by the National Offender Management Service. The National Probation Service works closely with the CRCs to align services for female offenders. Effective delivery of services to female offenders was identified as a priority area when the CRC contracts were awarded, and contract managers have systems in place to monitor and assure compliance with contractual requirements.

Females: Offenders

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Advisory Board on Female Offenders in addressing the strategic objectives for female offenders; and if he will make a statement.

Caroline Dinenage: Since its inception in 2013, the Advisory Board has been supporting the development of locally driven whole system approaches in Greater Manchester and Wales which provide robust and effective sentencing options in the community. They also contributed to the development of guidance for the new probation providers on responding to the gender-specific needs of female offenders, and considered evidence from a cross-departmental working group on the links between debt and finance issues and female offenders. I believe the Advisory Board on Female Offenders has an important role to play in our work to drive forward improvements for female offenders. Since May 2015, we have refreshed the membership and Terms of Reference to enable the Board to provide stronger leadership, including holding key Government departments and delivery partners to account.

Judiciary: Religious Practice

Mr Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) stipendiary magistrates, (b) non-stipendiary magistrates and (c) district judges are currently members of (i) sharia courts, (ii) a beth din and (iii) other religious courts and tribunals.

Mr Shailesh Vara: No such information is held.

Judiciary: Religious Practice

Mr Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what guidance he has issued to (a) stipendiary magistrates, (b) non-stipendiary magistrates and (c) district judges on membership of (i) sharia courts, (ii) a beth din and (iii) other religious courts and tribunals.

Mr Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what guidance he has issued to stipendiary magistrates, non-stipendiary magistrates and district judges regarding membership of (a) sharia courts, (b) a beth din and (c) other religious courts or tribunals.

Mr Shailesh Vara: No such guidance has been issued. Such a matter would, in any case, rest with the Lord Chief Justice and the senior judiciary, if they were minded to issue guidance on this topic to magistrates and district judges, or, indeed, to any other judicial office holders.

Drunkenness: Lancashire

Mr Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) men and (b) women were convicted of being drunk in charge of a child under the age of seven in a public place by each magistrates' Court in Lancashire in 2014.

Mike Penning: The number of offenders found guilty at all magistrates courts in Lancashire of being drunk in charge of a child under seven in a public place, by gender, in 2014, can be viewed in the table.Offenders found guilty of being drunk in charge of a child under the age of seven (1), Lancashire, by gender, 2014 (2)(3)MaleFemaleTotal 6713 '-' = Nil   (1) An offence under S2 Licensing Act 1902 (2) The figures given in the table relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.(3) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services - Ministry of Justice.Ref: PQ 8522   Because of the small numbers involved, it is not possible to provide a breakdown by individual courts as this could lead to identification of the children involved.

Ministry of Justice: Newspaper Press

Mr Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answers of 7 and 21 July 2015 to Questions 5246 and 6217, how many copies of each daily or Sunday newspaper his Department's office at 102 Petty France, Westminster receives each day.

Dominic Raab: The number of daily newspapers received in all areas of 102 Petty France is not held centrally and can only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Prisoners: Pregnant Women

Richard Fuller: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many pregnant women have begun a prison sentence in each of the last five years.

Caroline Dinenage: This information is not held centrally.

Magistrates' Courts: Northamptonshire

Tom Pursglove: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate his Department has made of the potential additional (a) travel expenses, (b) costs of non-attendance and (c) other costs to the public purse that would arise due to closure of magistrates courts in (i) Kettering and (ii) Corby.

Mr Shailesh Vara: No decision has been taken to close the magistrates’ courts in Kettering and Corby.We will consider all identified impacts once the consultation closes and all responses have been fully analysed. To ensure that access to justice is maintained, even in more rural locations, we are committed to providing alternative ways for users to access our services, including the use of other civic buildings. We are building a justice system which is simpler, swifter and more efficient. By using modern technology we can meet the needs of everyone who uses our services now and in the future.

Legal Aid Scheme: Finance

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what representations he has received on the recent reduction in the legal aid budget.

Mr Shailesh Vara: Both the Lord Chancellor and I have, and will continue to, engage with a broad range of legal aid providers and representative groups.

Police Stations: Legal Representation

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the cost per hour to the Public Defender Service of providing a legal representative in a police station; and what hourly rate is paid for such work under the Legal Aid system.

Mr Shailesh Vara: As a directly salaried service, the PDS does not bill for work in the same way as private practice, therefore it is not possible to provide a comparable estimate of cost per hour.

Criminal Proceedings: Legal Costs

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the cost to the public purse is per case for defendants represented by (a) the Public Defender Service and (b) firms in private practice.

Mr Shailesh Vara: As a directly salaried service, the PDS does not bill for work in the same way as private practice, therefore it is not possible to provide a comparable estimate of cost per case.

Courts: Greater Manchester

Ann Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what costs were paid by HM Courts and Tribunals Service for (a) attendance, (b) travel, (c) loss of earnings, (d) childcare and (e) subsistence for all courts in Greater Manchester in each of the last three years; and what estimate he has made of the likely levels of such costs if his proposals for future courts provision are implemented.

Mr Shailesh Vara: HMCTS does not hold this information centrally.We will consider all identified impacts once the consultation closes and all responses have been fully analysed.

Courts: Greater Manchester

Ann Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the operating costs were of each court in Greater Manchester by type of expenditure in each of the last three years.

Mr Shailesh Vara: This information can be obtained from HMCTS systems but requires collation.I will write to the Hon member with this information and place a copy in the library of the House in due course.

Legal Aid Scheme: Contracts

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what contingency plans his Department has made for the possibility of all criminal defence firms withdrawing their bids for new legal aid contracts.

Mr Shailesh Vara: Our policy is to implement the new own client and duty contracts on 11 January 2016. This is the best way to ensure a sustainable market for criminal legal aid and deliver value for money for the taxpayer. Sufficient bids have been received for the criminal duty contracts tender to go ahead.

Disability: Crime

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will strengthen the penalties for disability hate crimes.

Mike Penning: The Government is committed to maintaining a strong response to hate crime, including disability hate crime. There are already tough sentencing options available to the courts for crimes motivated by or demonstrating hostility on the basis of disability. We will keep this area of the law under review. Hate crime is a devolved matter for Northern Ireland.

Knives: Crime

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans he has to bring forward legislative proposals to tackle knife crime; and if he will bring forward legislative proposals to prohibit the carrying of a knife.

Andrew Selous: There is comprehensive legislation in England and Wales to deal with knife crime. Unlawful possession of a knife or offensive weapon in a public place without good reason or lawful excuse is already a serious criminal offence, which carries a maximum four year custodial sentence. Following the commencement in July of the relevant provisions in the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015, offenders convicted of a second offence of possession of a knife or offensive weapon and sentenced on or after 17 July 2015 face a minimum custodial sentence of six months, or four months if a young offender aged 16 or 17. The provisions of this Act make it absolutely clear that cautions should no longer be used for serious offences such as those involving a knife or offensive weapon.

Courts: Closures

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what impact assessment he has commissioned on the effects of court closures on access to justice in deprived areas.

Mr Shailesh Vara: We will consider all identified impacts once the consultation closes. To ensure that access to justice is maintained, we are committed to providing alternative ways for users to access our services, including the use of other civic buildings.

Employment Tribunals Service: Fees and Charges

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he plans to publish responses to his Department's review of employment tribunal fees.

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent representations he has received on his Department's review of employment tribunal fees.

Mr Shailesh Vara: On 11 June we announced the start of the post-implementation review of the introduction of fees in the Employment Tribunals on the Ministry of Justice website. We have received a range of views and evidence from a variety of sources and are giving all relevant material the appropriate consideration.

Magistrates' Courts: Hartlepool

Mr Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the proposed closure of Hartlepool Magistrates' Court, what estimate he has made of additional costs arising from increased expenses of (a) staff of agencies using the court system and (b) members of the public.

Mr Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the proposed closure of magistrates' courts, what estimate has been made of the (a) cost to the public purse and (b) effect on public safety of the increased travelling times of police officers attending magistrates' courts away from their designated beat patrol.

Mr Shailesh Vara: No decision has been taken to close Hartlepool Magistrates’ Court and County Court. The consultation is open until 8 October and we will consider all identified impacts and costs once the consultation closes and all responses have been fully analysed.

Magistrates' Courts: Costs

Mr Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the cost per case heard at (a) Hartlepool and (b) Teesside magistrates' court was in each of the last five years; and what the average cost per case heard in magistrates' courts in England and Wales was in each of those years.

Mr Shailesh Vara: The information is not available centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Magistrates' Courts: Lancashire

Mr Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the effects of the proposed closure of Ormskirk Magistrates' Court on the (a) costs and (b) length of journeys to Preston Magistrates' Court for people from Skelmersdale, Halsall, Scarisbrick and other parts of West Lancashire who rely on public transport; and what assessment he has made of the effect on Preston Magistrates' Court of the length and complexity of journeys on public transport by defendants.

Mr Shailesh Vara: No decision has been made on the future of Ormskirk Magistrates Court. Access to justice is not just about proximity to a court. To ensure that access to justice is maintained, we are committed to providing alternative ways for users to access our services, including the use of other civic buildings. No decisions will be made until every response to the current consultation has been considered carefully.

Cabinet Office

What Works Network

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which premises are occupied by each of the seven What Works Centres; what the location is of each such centre; how many staff are employed at each such centre; and what key performance indicators or delivery metrics have been set for the What Works Network.

Matthew Hancock: The What Works Network is currently made up of seven Centres, which are independent of government. The Centres aim to empower policy makers, commissioners and practitioners at both the local and national level, to make decisions based upon robust evidence of what works, and deliver cost efficient, impactful services.Information requested about the location of the Centres is set out in Table A. The number of staff in each Centre is a matter for the individual organisations and is not collated centrally.Centres sign up to a set of What Works Network requirements (https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/451328/What_Works_Network_-_Membership_requirements.pdf), and each Centre has an evaluation plan in place. The Cabinet Office is working with Centres to assess their impact and inform the future infrastructure to support evidenced based decision makingTable A – What Works Centres and addresses  CentrePolicy AreaCity National Institute for Health and Care ExcellenceHealth and Social CareManchesterEducation Endowment FoundationEducational AttainmentLondonEarly Intervention FoundationEarly InterventionLondonWhat Works Centre for Local Economic GrowthLocal GrowthLondon What Works Centre for Crime Reduction Crime ReductionLondonCentre for Ageing Better – in developmentAgeingLondonWhat Works Centre for Wellbeing – in developmentWellbeingLondon

Iraq Committee of Inquiry

Roger Mullin: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what fees were paid to Sir John Chilcot for his work on the Iraq Inquiry in each quarter from January 2014 to the end of June 2015.

Matthew Hancock: Sir John Chilcot is paid a fee of £790 for each day worked. His Committee colleagues are paid £565 for each day they work. According to the Inquiry’s website, remuneration for the Committee and its advisers totalled £119,300 for the Financial year 2014/15.

Cabinet Office: Consultants

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what policy evaluations have been carried out by external organisations for his Department and its agencies in each financial year since 2010-11; whether the output of those evaluations was published; which organisation carried out each such evaluation; and what the value of each contract to provide that evaluation was.

Matthew Hancock: In September 2012, the UK volunteered to be peer-reviewed on our policies and mechanisms to build national and community resilience to natural disasters. The review was carried out by the UN Office for Disaster Relief Reduction, the European Commission and the OECD, and funding was provided by the EU. Their report, Peer Review Report: United Kingdom, 2013: Building Resilience to Disasters, Assessing the implementation of the Hyogo Framework for Action (2005-2010) is available on the UNISDR website at http://www.unisdr.org/files/32996_32996hfaukpeerreview20131.pdf

Cabinet Office: Carbon Emissions

Philip Davies: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much his Department spent on carbon offsetting in each of the last three years; and to which companies payments in respect of carbon offsetting were made in each such year.

Matthew Hancock: The Cabinet Office’s expenditure to date in respect of carbon offsetting arising from Official and Ministerial air travel was as follows;2014-15 £717.34p payment was made to Carbon Footprint Ltd2013-14 £1572.78p payment was made to Carbon Footprint Ltd2012-13 £782.00p payment was made to South Pole Carbon Asset Management Ltd.

BBC: Met Office

Mr Ben Bradshaw: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for (a) national security and (b) resilience to extreme weather of the BBC's decision no longer to use the Met Office's weather forecasts and expertise in its broadcasts.

Mr Ben Bradshaw: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for national security and resilience to extreme weather of the BBC broadcasting weather forecasts supplied by an overseas company.

Mr Oliver Letwin: The BBC procurement process for a new weather provider is understood still to be underway. The Government is considering the implications for national security and resilience caused by the decision by the BBC not to use the Met Office after autumn 2016 as its forecast provider. The Government will continue to work closely with both the BBC and the Met Office to ensure national security and resilience are protected.

Freedom of Information: Local Enterprise Partnerships

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department plans to extend freedom of information to local enterprise partnerships.

Matthew Hancock: The Government does not currently plan to extend the Freedom of Information Act to Local Enterprise Partnerships.

House of Commons Commission

House of Commons: Working Hours

Patrick Grady: To ask the hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington representing the House of Commons Commission, what (a) overtime and (b) flexible working arrangements are in place for clerking, catering, security, Hansard and other ancillary or support staff and officers of the House during late sittings of the House.

Tom Brake: Holding answer received on 11 September 2015



The House of Commons terms and conditions of employment include provision to compensate staff for working late and/or additional hours during late sittings of the House. Staff in pay bands A–E (and some senior staff) required to work until the rise of the House or beyond are paid an Unsocial Hours Payment (UHP) for the commitment to work to an undefined time and a flat rate for each additional hour they work after 6pm once that have completed 8 hours work during that day. Staff who are not normally required to work to the rise of House or beyond, but agree to do so, may be eligible for paid overtime payments or time off in lieu (TOIL). Staff in catering pay bands are required to work until 15 minutes after the rise of the House if they are contracted to work in venues that supply services to Members. Staff who work in these areas or volunteer to work in these areas are paid overtime for any additional hours worked. Line managers have the discretion to agree flexibility around working hours by compensating individuals for additional hours worked by granting TOIL. Where business needs allow, TOIL can be granted to manage peaks and troughs in workloads. The extent to which TOIL is used varies between areas or roles, but is used frequently in some cases where workloads vary significantly between sitting and non-sitting periods. Work is under way to introduce a Flexible Time Management Policy. Security staff are employed by the Metropolitan Police Service and are paid in accordance with their terms and conditions of employment.